In the holiday spirit

So the tree is up, the lights are hung and the Alan Family is ready to go with this whole Christmas thing. I learned last year, while hanging the lights in the snow, that you do those kind of things early here, so ours went up outside the day after Thanksgiving. We got the tree the next day at Home Depot (I just do NOT understand the whole tromp into the woods and kill a perfectly healthy and happy tree thing - no offense if you do, but it's just not me) and got it decorated that night as well.

There is a reason for our haste. We are going to CA for Christmas in just three weeks, so we wanted to be able to enjoy some Christmas spirit in our home here before we left. The kids had a great time decorating the tree and the house looks great. It was Jake's turn to hang the angel this year, probably the last time we will be able to do it in the manner shown in the photo, as the next time it's his turn he'll be 8 (and I'll be 42ish) and I don't know if I'll still be able to lift him above my head. But it was great to be able to do it this way one more time.

I have dropped the holiday playlist onto the iPod and we have the kids advent calendar full and set. 

We watched the Grinch while everyone was here for Thanksgiving, and our new holiday favorite, "Shrek the Halls" is being Tivo'd as we speak. 

I am currently on an internet search to find a photo Christmas card company that uses recycled paper, to make a Christmas card that is, itself, recyclable, so if you know of one already, please tell me. I very cautiously broached the subject of doing a much more earth friendly e-Card campaign this year and almost lost a limb in the process. I love me some green energy, but not at risk of bodily harm, so we will be sending out the most earth-friendly cards I can find (please recycle them!). 

Marisa and I both took this Friday off work to finish up the Christmas shopping (and maybe have a quiet lunch together but who knows), so we should be set to load up the gas guzzling sleigh and hit the road with Christmas cheer just oozing from our ears when it's time to head south for the holiday. 

Stampede Game

One of Tanner's birthday gifts from his Auntie Sue was tickets for us to the Idaho Stampede Basketball game. Tanner also got some spending money from his Poppa for the hat, foam finger and mini-basketball that you can't quite see in the photo. Both of the boys loved the game.

We went on the YMCA appreciation night, so a bunch of kids from Jake's team, and the league as a whole were there. The kids got to go down on the court and form a High-5 tunnel for the player introductions, so Jake got to High-5 the entire Stampede team. He sat with his friend Tyler for the game and Tanner alternated between sitting on Marisa's Lap and mine.

Tanner had a great time rooting on the Stampede. He has his usual bout of "mascotitisosis", which is the fear that the guy in the "goofy suit" will come and make unwelcome comedic advances in your section and heaven forbid, to you directly. But "Rumble" stayed on his own side of the arena and Tanner was able to relax and enjoy the game. 

We were planning to leave at halftime, then after the third quarter, then ended up staying until the very end since the boys were having such a good time and behaving so well. We then finished our late night sports tradition by sleeping in separate beds; Tanner in with Marisa and Jake and I in our bed.

Thanks to Auntie Sue and Poppa for a great time out!

Tanner's 3rd Birthday

It was Tanner's 3rd birthday on Friday. After much back and forth by Marisa and I about where to have it (Tanner truly couldn't have cared less) we did it at our house after dinner. Tanner, who didn't seem at all interested in the fact that his birthday was approaching, seemed to enjoy everything at the party. He was very detached from the whole thing until the party actually started. Despite repeated attempts by Mom and Dad to get him into the process by asking him where he wanted to have his birthday, what kind of gifts he wanted, or what kind of cake even, the kid just didn't care. He would always answer, "I don't care, whatever you want Mom".

In the end, he had a good time. He got a lot of presents that he loves playing with, had a healthy dinner of beanie weenies and potato chips with diet coke and followed it up with the Dora cake that Marisa and Jake made for him. Grandma Cori, Jake, and Faith all had a good time, too!

I am of two minds when thinking about Tanner being three. I'm sure that this is just because he is the middle child, and is probably the case with all middle kids, but there are times that I can't believe he's three already, then there are times I can't believe he's ONLY three. He has turned three with a vengeance though, (no matter which I am looking at it that day). He has spent more time in Time Out then I think Jake has ever seen, and has a brave/stubborn/suicidal streak that is going to make the next year or so just AWESOME. But he balances it out by being a sweet and loving little boy when you least expect it.

We finished the weekend with a Pancake Breakfast/1 mile Turkey Trot fundraiser for Jake's school that Jake and I ran in. There was a shorter course for littler kids, but Tanner was clearly too worn out from being three to want to do it. It snowed a little here on the way to our basketball game on Saturday and we were socked in by a fog inversion this morning so thick we couldn't see the front yard. Perfect football day!

We are really looking forward to everyone showing up this week for Thanksgiving and can't wait for Turkey day. As we probably won't post again before then (unless Tanner lights his room on fire), have a great Thanksgiving. Spend good time with good people. Love to all.

Faith's First Haircut

Faith's hair is coming in slowly. Poor thing has quite an interesting hairline, with long wispy pieces on the sides and barely anything on top. We finally decided it was time to help things along, so we took her with Tanner (who was looking quite a bit more than shaggy) to get her hair cut today. She laid on my shoulder the whole time- didn't cry- just laid there while the lady trimmed the wispy ends and told her how good she was being.

Her favorite thing to say these days is, "No, Mama!!" when I try to help her do anything. She also has become very attached to the baby doll that was given to her by Grandma for her first b'day. She hugs it and kisses it, feeds it, and gives it juice. It's very cute. She has begun tormenting Tanner by taking anything he is playing with and running away with it, laughing maniacally. Considering Tanner's propensity for just this behavior, I say bring it on, Faith! She has clearly learned from the Master.

Jake

Jake had his first sleepover this weekend. His friend Sean from his K class and also his B-Ball team came home with us after the basketball game on Saturday afternoon. They had a blast! We took them out to dinner, then got ice cream from 31 Flavors and came home to watch "Little Giants" (a football movie for kids). They slept in Jake's bed together, while Tanner spent the night waiting for the Night Night Fairy sleeping between Brian and I.

He continues to love Kindergarten and is learning far more than I ever could have imagined. He can read- really read. It is incredible to me. And he can tell time and count change and write sentences. I have my issues with his school and the academic focus but since he is in all day K he gets a hefty dose of all the fun stuff, too, so I have made peace with it (mostly). The most important thing is that he is so happy there. He has so many friends. The best thing we heard at his parent conference was that he "is confident in who he is"- that he "is his own person". If we can hold onto that for a while, that's all we could ask for.

Funny story about Jake: The kids play this game they call "Stroller Girl" which consists of the boys riding their mini trucks around the downstairs, chasing Faith who is pushing her doll stroller. So the other day they were doing this and Jake was leading. He had made it into a game in which they were headed to Minnesota to visit their cousins. They hit the laundry room door and he delcared that they "were lost". So he points to Faith and loudly states the solution: "Follow Stroller Girl! She's got the GPS!". Make Believe- 2008 style!

He loves playing basketball still and loves watching Football on TV. He still gets sad that he won't be allowed to play "professional football" (anything more than playing with friends out on the green) and lamented that "It's not fair that Faith and Tanner both have two kidneys and can play football!" on the way home from his annual ultrasound. He then ammended this statement to say, "Well, Faith can't. She can only play tennis or golf". That got my inner feminist riled up but when I told him that it wasn't true, he pointed out that there are no girls on Major League B'Ball teams or in the NFL, NHL, or NBA. I vowed to make him watch the WNBA but will not under any circumstances allow him to watch anything called "Powder Puff Football".

The Night Night Fairy Strikes Again!

Tanner turns 3 on Friday, so in preparation for that momentous event the Night-Night fairy visited our house on Saturday night. The "Night Night Fairy" (for those of you not in the know) is the mythical creature that comes to childrens houses and takes their binkies (presumably to give to little babies that need them) and leaves a present in their place. Tanner was a champ. He left his binkies in a little pile on the stair railing and was a bit shocked I think to find that the Fairy did indeed take them and leave in their place a firetruck with Dora and Diego riding inside (just what he asked for... that Night Night Fairy knows ALL!). He hasn't looked back since. He proudly proclaims each morning, "NO more night night face, Mom!" ("Night Night Face" being the icky goo that tends to collect on the upper lip of the addicted).

He has good days and bad days. And just like the poem my grandpa used to quote, "When he is good he is very very good, but when he is bad he is horrid"! He is very low-key about his upcoming birthday. When asked what he wants he says, "I don't care. Whatever you want, Mama". He doesn't really have an opinion what what kind of cake he wants or if there is a character on it or not. He did not want a party but told us that he just wanted "to have dinner at the Merc with mommy, daddy, Faith, Jake, and Nana". He's such a funny boy. It is hard to believe he is the same age Jake was when we decided to move here. They are so different.

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. The boys dressed up as BSU Football player. The hockey-player-dressed-as-a-football-player idea was quickly forgotten when Jake realized he wouldn't be able to wear his football helmet with the mask on. However, the mask (as you can see) did not got to waste .

Tanner really got into trick-or-treating (much to our surprise) and loudly shouted, "TRICK OR TREAT! GO BOISE STATE! YEAH!!" at every door. He stayed out with Jake and I till the bitter end- walking the whole way and asking, "Just one more house, Mom, please???" as it got later. He was scared of the house that played spooky noises, but other than that he was game for the whole thing.

Faith was a black cat. Nana had brought her the cosume earlier in the week and she loved dragging it around the house and saying "MEOW!"- wanting to take it to bed with her at night but not wanting to put it on at all. When it was time to get ready to go she saw that I was going to try to put her in the costume and she hid behind our stools, crying. I forced her in it (put another dollar in the therapy jar- as my sister would say..... ) and she was ready to go.

The concept of"knocking on doors and asking for candy" really appealed to her, too. The first house we went to she walked right in, past the lady holding the candy, and would have gone right into their kitchen and joined in the party had we not dragged her out. She also walked most of the way, and went to way more houses than either Jake or Tanner went to when they were her age. She came home early with Brian and proceeded to dump out her loot and talk to herself- oohing and aahhing over the bounty before she got scared upon answering the door for a scary trick-or-treater and promptly asked to go to bed.

1st B-Ball Game

So today was our 1st Basketball game. We had the 9:00 am game the day after Halloween, so we ended up short a couple of players off our normal roster, but we had enough to play. The game was AWESOME!

We have only had two practices, and there is so much to go over, that I was worried that it was going to be a rather large fuster cluck, but the Y really has it down on game day (they have issues at ALL other times). They have two ref's that come and work with the kids 1st on rules, drills etc. and work with them during them game. They were great about calling (and not calling) penalties to help the kids learn. They bring colored wristbands and kids on each team all have different ones, corresponding to the kids on the other team that they are supposed to guard, which helps with the whole "mob ball" thing, and the kids did really good. 

They passed, they played defense, they made a couple of shots...mainly they had a good time. A couple of minor injuries, couple of "non-listening" instances, but mainly good teamwork and sportsmanship. This is a really great program for the little kids; no score, no stats, 4 eight minute quarters, a "safe zone" they can go to where no defense is allowed and short baskets (8') so they can actually make a shot, which is the big news...

...Jake made his 1st basket! He did such a great job (see below). We have another practice this week and a game next Saturday. We got red uniform shirts today at the game, so the kids named themselves The Red Rockets (much better than Team #2).

It happened again.....

So I guess once you get a reputation as a "soft touch", it's all over in the world of youth sports. This time, one of the former T-Ball parents "volunteered" me to coach the Y-Basketball team....so many issues:

#1 - You've seen me, do I look like I had a big basketball career? I am 6' tall in my dreams and have never played any type of organized basketball, at all....ever. I know baseball, love baseball, PLAYED baseball, so there's a foundation there for baseball. Basketball is Uncle Eric's sport, not mine.

#2 - Due to #1 above, I know absolutely nothing about basketball (other than what is required to watch it on TV), let alone how to impart that knowledge (again, not that there's any there to being with) to Kindergarteners for God's sake.

#3 - This means that due to the guilt that my Mom and Auntie Sue imparted in me while growing up (between them and the Catholic church - I am a fountain of guilt) that all things must be equal bewteen siblings, I now have to coach both Tanner and Faith in Basketball too.

#4 - Related to #2, basketball is confusing to teach....and there's a lot of stuff involved; traveling, double dribble, 10 second violations (yes, for kindergartners)....plus the whole "mob the ball" mentality to diffuse.We had our first practice last night, and even explaining some of the rules to kindergartners, I had the feeling like they were looking at me a saying, "What you can't be serious, look what a ridiculous concept that driblling is"...and..."you look like 

a moron with the whole pivot foot thing going".

I don't know, baseball is just so much more of a "Here's a ball, hit it with this stick" kind of thing. 

But anyway, now that I'm doing it, I'm doing it. We have practice once a week in the gym at Jake's school, and games on Saturdays. Plus there are a couple of cool tie-ins with the NBA D-Ball team in town. We get to go to a team practice, and the kids get discounted tickets to the season opener and get to go down on the floor and high five the players during introductions.

So it will work out fine and Jake and I will have a great time, just like we did for T-ball. When hockey season rolls around, I'm hiding under a rock until after the games start.

Best Husband Award

Remember the post I wrote a few weeks ago about a recent day we had where everything just clicked and I wanted to write about it so I could remember it on days when things fell apart? Well, in that same vein, I'd like to take a moment to give my hubby some credit where credit is due.

Besides the fact that he does 80% of the housework (seriously... I have not changed one set of sheets or done a load of laundry since we moved here) and does half of child related duties, he also recently went out of his way to do something really special for me.

My company is going through some hard times and we recently experienced a lot of layoffs (approx. 40% of the employees were let go) . Thankfully I am still employed (for now), but I found out on Monday that the health care for our family was no longer going to be provided. This is a big hit financially. In discussing how to handle this setback, I was bummed to realize that I would not be able to continue with my Bikram Yoga classes. Brian came home that evening (after attending a basketball coaches meeting.... go Super Dad!) and handed me a punch card for 10 more classes. He handed it to me and said, "I can mow the lawns for another summer, Honey." (We had recently added in a budget column for a gardener). I haven't felt this strongly about a hobby for a long time and the fact that he knew that and was willing to give up the luxury of someone else mowing the lawn for a change..... not to mention that he actually went to the Bikram Yoga studio himself (one of the more "granola-y" places in the world and definitely not in his comfort zone!). It made me remember again what an amazing man he is.

Sappy? Sure. But something I want to remember today, tomorrow, and years from now (especially on days when I want to kill him!)

Getting Ready for Halloween

Both boys want to be Boise State football players for Halloween this year (Jake will actually be a "steelheads hockey player dressed as a Boise State football player " since he really wanted a mask to be involved in some way in his costume.) Faith is going to be a black cat. Mom bought the costume for her so I have yet to see it, but I'm sure she will look adorable. However, for the Halloween party at the Merc last Saturday we dug out our costume bin and let the kids choose what to wear. Jake settled easily on Spiderman (from last year and a bit snug if you ask me), Tanner tried on the clown suit (my personal favorite), the bear, and Superman before settling on the chicken costume. Faith went with the bear, after deciding right away that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the chicken suit. Smart girl, that one. Anyway, the party wasn't very exciting, but there is another neighborhood party this weekend, then the trick-or -treating to look forward to.

The leaves are all red here and the weather is gorgeous. By this time next week, though, I bet the trees will be bare. It is still partly dark when we walk to school in the mornings and we are all bundled up in woolen hats in the AM, while changing to short sleeves by afternoon. I love this time of year!!

Tanner and Faith took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch/corn maze and Tanner just couldn't stop talking about it. He took a tractor/hay ride and picked out a pumpkin and drank juice and ate popcorn and did art and did I tell you about the tractor ride?and the popcorn and juice? I'm sure he'd love to tell you all about it when you see him!

Potty Training Success (Round 2)

Just a quick update on our "problem child". I am happy to report that he has gone to daycare 3 times in a row now with NO CRYING!!!! On Friday, he actually waited at the door, telling me to hurry up because he wanted to go to school. He has also stopped repeating himself ad nauseum (so we may actually be able to keep him for awhile longer). And the big news is the potty.
He has stayed dry for 5 days in a row in his big boy undies- both #1 and #2 are making it into the potty. Probably TMI for most of you, but for us, having only ONE in diapers is a huge deal.

Sports Season

Fall really is the official sports lovers season. Between the MLB Playoffs and World Series, the start of hockey season, Sunday football, Monday Night Football, and the NBA getting underway, October is quite a month.

We became sure that our hunch that Jake had been watching too many televised sports when we were driving through a Taco Bell drive through on the way to the Steelheads hockey season opener on Saturday (Tanner's first game!) and Jake quoted a Taco Bell commercial as Brian ordered a triple steak burrito. Word for word. Yeah.... I'm a good mom. Really. That kid knows his sports, though, and he's got all the right moves, too. The fact that he knows what a "volcano taco" and "gillette fusion" razor is.... that's just collateral damage (I hope).

The Steelheads game was so much fun. We had Cara babysit Faith so we just took the two boys. Tanner was unsure at first, and spent the first 10 minutes of the first period with his fingers in his ears and a slightly worried look on his face. But then he got into it. He cheered for the players, sang the national anthem- all the while keeping his eye on the mascot very closely- asking us repeatedly, "Is he going to come up here, Mommy?" with a lot of concern in his voice. This kid does not like human sized animals prancing around. Disneyland would likely be his worst nightmare. Unfortunately the Steelheads lost in overtime. We got home very late (10:30) so decided to do a sleepover- one boy with me in the guest room, one with Brian in our room. They slept until 8 which was really nice! And I love taking advantage of these days when sleeping with us is a treat!

We've been watching the MLB Playoffs, of course. Jake and Brian are rooting for the Phillies while I became a late supporter of the Rays due to their closing pitcher last night that I fell in love with. So it should be a fun World Series to watch. Even Faith has gotten into the action. She refused to go to sleep a few nights ago and after listening to her cry for an extended period of time, we decided to go get her. She came down and sat on her daddy's lap for 30 minutes, watching one of the playoff games, cheering them on in her own way, content as could be. It was so great to get that one-on-one time with her. She also "plays baseball" when we are playing with Tanner and Jake. She holds the bat, one of us throws the ball so that it makes contact with her bat, then she "runs the bases" (around the kitchen island) and "slides" into home (our fireplace). Very cute.

Jake starts Y-basketball on Wednesday. Brian is coaching the team and is currently trying to figure out how to teach 7 five year olds how to play the sport. We had enough Kindergartners up here in Hidden Springs to make a team so all of our practices and some of our games are up here in our neighborhood, which makes it so much easier. Even limiting Jake to one outside activity at a time can be overwhelming in terms of scheduling dinner, etc... One practice a week and one game a week is PLENTY for us at this point. God help us when Tanner and Faith start to play organized sports.

The Harrison Classic

Jake and I ran in the Harrison Classic 1 mile race together today (he ran the race and asked me to run along with him). It was a YMCA race and the school with the most participants won 250.00 worth of new PE equipment. The race course was right down one of our favorite streets in Boise, Harrison Street, which is a gorgeous tree lined street, with large 1920's and 30's houses on each side. 

There were a lot of kids from Jake's school there, so he had a lot of friends to run with. His PE teacher Mr. Perotto was there as well, he is an awesome teacher and one of Jake's favorties, so Jake got to see him outside of the school setting which he really loved.

Jake did great. He ran the whole mile and 

sprinted the last 100 yards or so. I didn't know what to expect when we started out as we had never tried anything like this bfore, but I was so proud of him. He just put his head down and went. Never a complaint, never a whimper, at the end he got his gold medal (which he is so proud of, it is already hanging in his room above his desk). We got a water and headed back to

 meet Marisa and the Kids. 

They stood on Harrison and cheered us on as we ran by. You can run in the race as young as four, so I think next year, we will have two participants. Tanner and Faith both cheered for us as we ran by. I didn't see them until I heard Faith yell, "Hi Dad!" and saw them on the curb. Jake had a great time and is raring to do it again.

Idyllic and Rare

I'd better write this post fast....before I forget. Because today was such a great day- one of those rare days when I felt that I not only had everything under control but that I was actually excelling at this motherhood/partnership thing. That allusive search for balance.... today, for once, I felt I had found it.

Brian and I grocery shopped together- with two baskets and three kids. This is not new, actually. For some odd reason this is fun for us and even though we have been saying for years that it would make much more sense to "divide and conquer" we really enjoy our Saturday early morning trips to WalMart. Anyway, then I did my yoga class (more on that later) while Brian baked a new cookie/energy bar recipe and put the kids down for naps. Then I came home and put together a crock pot dinner while he worked out. Later we ran a few errands, took the kids to the park, and sat together on the couches watching the ALCS. Tanner "read" quietly to Faith on one chair (really one of the cutest things I've ever seen) while Jake laid with Brian ,covered in a warm blanket, on the couch.

Maybe it is the sudden change from fall to winter. It snowed last night (Yes, I said "SNOW" and it is only Oct. 10th!!) and as we walked to the Merc for dinner the boys kept the blowing flurries off their faces with their Spiderman umbrellas while Brian tried to hold our big umbrella over both Faith and I. The Merc was warm and welcoming and full of friends and neighbors. It was the first night that we had ths kids in "feety jammies" and the fireplace on. Then we woke up this morning to 22 degree weather and it just made everything feel so peaceful.

Maybe its the fact that I am three weeks into my new hobby- Bikram Yoga- It is a challenge every time and it makes me realize how rarely I challenge myself (physically and mentally). I take the 90 minute class three times a week and look so forward to it in a way I rarely do anymore when it comes to working out. I love it. I am not a "It changed my life!" kind of person and yet I feel like it is doing just that. And even though my three week trial period is over and it is kind of pricey, I feel like I can't afford NOT to continue.

Maybe its that Tanner has made noticeable progress in daycare (he didn't cry at all on Friday!) or that he has slowed down some on the repetition thing. Or the simple fact that there was no drama at bedtime and everyone ate their dinner without complaint

Maybe its that the passing of yet another season reminds me that time moves too quickly and these days will be over before I know it. Easier to embrace today knowing that one day soon I will miss the chaos (or so I am told!).

In any case, I have so many days (and so many blogs) that highlight the hard parts, that I just wanted to take a minute to record one that was easy. Because the next time I feel like I need to run screaming from my house and head for the nearest bar, I want to be able to look back and see that there really are days like this to balance out the craziness.

My Middle Child

It's official. The honor of "Most Challenging Child" has now moved from Jake (holder of the title for 3 years running) to Tanner. Don't know if it's the age (almost 3), the change in daycare situations, the bump on his head he got in August when falling off his stool , or a combination of all three. But there can be no doubt: He has earned the Title.

Most annoying (and somewhat concerning) behavior: He repeats the same question over and over ad nauseum until you want to strangle him. You can answer the question over and over and over and over and he won't stop. It is manic. And exhausting. And a little worrisome. We try to be patient but it wears on us. Our Doc says this could be due to the "concussion" he may or may not have suffered from at the end of August and should end soon.

Saddest behavior: He sobs relentlessly at daycare drop off. I love his new daycare person- Miss Wendy. She has been working with us closely to make it easier on Tanner. But to no avail. She always calls me and tells me when he has stopped crying (generally before I have even made the first left turn onto Cole Rd. on my way home) and the other day she actually videotaped him for me (her idea) so I could see how instantaneously he stops crying and starts happily playing. It was literally as the front door clicked behind me. It is so hard, though, to drop him off in that state every day.

Most Normal but Frustrating behavior for his Age: He does things he knows is wrong often immediately saying, "Don't spank my butt!" which is further evidence that he knows exactly what he did wrong. We never really spanked Jake- since his conscience always seemed to be his guide but with TJ we have resorted to the occasional swat on the behind . Last weekend he hit Faith with a broom, then when we put him in timeout, he kicked her!!! This is not my sweet, loving boy. What has happened to him???? Oh yeah.... he's turning 3.

This too shall pass and will be looked upon with longing and fond remembrance as he goes through the teenage years, I am sure. But for now, if you love my middle child, you may want to say a little prayer that he actually makes it to three years old!

ON THE OTHER HAND: He's just so funny and sweet and sincere that he melts my heart all the time. Last night he and Jake came downstairs around 8:00 saying that they were scared. I asked Jake what he was scared of and he said, "A Witch!". Tanner said he was scared too, so I asked him what he was scared of. Copying Jake (or at least trying to) he said, "I scared of Mitch!". Brian and I looked at each other trying not to laugh and said, "Mitch? Tanner, who is Mitch???". He looked at us innocently and said, "The scary guy in my head". Mitch..... the stuff of nightmares! Then, out of nowhere, he hopped off the couch, pulled off his diaper and jammies, and did an impromptu "Booty Dance" yelling, "Look at my booty, guys! Look at my butt!" repeatedly. Who needs Comedy Central when you've got a show every night in your living room?

Yet another plan......

So in yet another genius attempt to get the kids to behave (ie: go to sleep without fits, sleep through the night etc.....it's not like they're setting the house on fire or stealing cars....yet), we have come up with a new plan.

The boys have a giant blackboard on the wall in their room that we painted with blackboard paint when we moved in. We drew a huge chart on that wall with the days of the week and privileges that they get across the top (For bonus points: it's a large spreadsheet that is color-coded per child, see if you can guess which parent had this brainstorm...). When one of the kids starts to misbehave, they get a warning, if they keep it up they get an "X". They have to choose what they lose and when that week- from after school TV to dessert to scooter, etc. They then have to put the "X" on the chart and it lives there in the room with them all week.

So far, as with most of our "parenting" ideas, I can't tell if it's made a difference or not. Things at bedtime are definitely better than they were before The Chart. But we still have fits, we still have timeouts, and I'm still nowhere near as Zen about it as I should be...so who knows.

The one thing The Chart did was get us the above photo. When drawing the chart, we told the boys that if they could go a whole week with a clean chart, they would get a special treat (without really discussing or even thinking about what that would be....I mean come on, a whole week? It would never happen right?). But lo and behold, a week or so ago, Jake did it. A whole week with no "X", so we had to come up with a special treat. Coincidentally, Jake's school was closed two days this week for teacher workdays and I had to take Friday off to play daddy day care. He and I decided that his special thing would be to go to the batting cages.

The slowest cage was still a little too fast for him at 45MPH. But he hung in there, didn't get frustrated and swung at every pitch (makes a Daddy proud). We then played some mini-golf (he has a hockey-like golfing style - luckily it was a Friday and we were the only two on the course), hit some video games and came home and watched the Speed Racer movie, which he loved. A good Daddy-Jake day, and a fitting reward for a clean chart. The chart is filled up now, so who knows if it will ever happen again, but it was fun while it lasted.

Alan Family Update

Things are rolling right along here in the Alan Household- I didn't say rolling smoothly, but they are rolling! Our hard drive and back up hard drive crashed so we lost all our music and photos and our refrigerator caught on fire and melted part of the interior (along with all our food) so we are currently in our second week of arguing with Sears on whether or not they need to replace it and in the meantime are living out of a small rental fridge in our garage. But (drum roll please while I cross my fingers and knock on wood...) everyone is back to sleeping!!!! And, really, if I have learned anything in the adventure of parenthood it is this: Well rested parents and well rested children are they key to a happy family life!!!

I am really enjoying my new job. It is such a cool company to work for and one that I really believe in, so talking about them to the teachers in Idaho is easy and fun. Plus they are a really fun group of people. . The program I am training teachers on(Apangea Math 5.0) was purchased for 43,000 students in Idaho so there is a lot of implementing to be done! Overall the teachers are receptive and fun to work with and although I miss my students (and being part of a staff) the diversion from the classroom has been good for me and also for the family. I am able to walk Jake to school most mornings and pick him up some days,spend more time with Tanner and Faith in the AM, and work from home when I am not on the road. Right now I am spending about 1 night/week in a hotel in some odd Idaho location because they have not yet hired the two other "Learning Specialists" (but promise me they are working on it). The nights away are lonely, actually, and I regret giving Brian such a hard time about work trips being "a vacation" when we first moved to Idaho and he was gone so much. On the positive side, though, II have so much more "quiet time". Since I am driving a lot I can call friends, drink my coffee, listen to music and books on CD, then return home in the afternoon much less harried and out of patience than I used to when coming home from a long day of teaching. All in all it was a good move for me at this time in my life.

Jake loves Kindergarten and has made lots of new friends. He has a crush on this little girl named Quinn and gets all embarrassed and giggly when he talks about her. Mostly they play "chase" on the playground. Ahhh... young love! He starts basketball next month and participated in a River Clean Up project last weekend with Brian. He is too much like me- it hits me everyday and sometimes it justt breaks my heart. My faults are his faults- his irrational fears (being in the dark and being alone); his extreme sensitivity(that one is also Brian's genes); his desire to please; his worries when he doesn't do something right; his tendency toward jealousy. It is painful to me to watch because I know how hard those traits can be and I want to be understanding and supportive while at the same time not wanting to coddle him too much and enable the behavior. The nature vs. nurture issue keeps rearing its head as I watch him develop into the tender hearted yet challenging boy that he is. I just want to hug him tight and not let go.

Tanner is talking so much now. He has turned into quite the little conversationalist and keeps us laughing with his singing, dancing, and troublemaking abilities! He can be quite dramatic and will throw his arms down and sigh disparagingly when we reprimand him. He still loves to read- his current obsession being "Froggy Plays T-Ball" which I finally had to hide last week. He has an absolutely incredible baseball ability. He hits home runs off live pitches and has an arm that amazes everyone that watches him play. He can be a total goofball. He and Jake made up this character they call "Apple Butt" and he constantly puts "Apple Butt" in different stories and just cracks himself up.

Faith is growing up too fast, refusing her nighttime bottle (I know logically that this is a good thing, but she's my BABY and I am not ready!), copying everything her brothers do, and is starting to sing and dance. She climbs up the ladder on our playset and slides down the slide by herself as I stand by watching and trying not to get too protective as I see her feet slip a little on the ladder. She has quite a temper on her and will throw her body down on the ground and sob relentlessly if something is taken away from her. This morning she pooped in the potty- she didn't tell anyone, just took her diaper off, sat down, and later we found the evidence in the little potty that Tanner is still trying to master. I wouldn't be surprised if she is potty trained before TJ at this point! Of course, we went out and got her big girl undies immediately- even though it will be a long while until we actually put her in them!

Worst. Mama. Ever

OK. I stole the title for this blog from another blog site: worstmamaever.blogspot.com. For all you moms out there... it is hysterical and will make you feel better about yourself as a parent if you frequent the site.

I recently had a Worst.Mama. Ever. experience with Jake. A lot of you know that I take after my mother and am a thrift shopper- always in search of a good deal. So, about 6 months ago I was in Albertsons and saw that they had all their Crayola stuff on sale for a dollar. Only ONE DOLLAR. So, I decided to stock up for any b'days that Jake was invited to this year. I bought 5 really cool Magic Marker sets that had this black paper and special pens and when you draw on it it turns rainbow and 5 sets of clay. So for the last 5 birthday parties we have simply been wrapping up this set of crayola goodies. Jake has never mentioned to me that it bothers him, so I really didn't think anything of it (although in retrospect I wonder what it teaches him about gift giving....).

The last birthday Jake went to he came home sad. He said that the party was fun, but that his feelings were really hurt. He said that when his friend opened up his presents from the other kids he said, "This is just what I wanted!" and wanted to play with it right away, but when his friend opened the present Jake had brought he just tossed it to the side with no comment (the kid clearly needs to learn b'day ettiquette!). Jake was hurt that his friend didn't like the present. When I asked him what kinds of presents the other kids brought he said, "Fun stuff... like Transformers and games. Cool stuff." Then he started to tear up. Let me tell you, I FELT LIKE CRAP.

He has two parties coming up this week and when I called the parents to RSVP I also asked what their kid would like. One is getting a kid's tackle box and the other is getting a Transformer toy.

Damn You, Superman!

I have been a little lax with regards to posting recently. Due to the end of the road trip, work
getting crazy, some computer issues, but mostly our old friend "Sleep Issues" returning to the fold full force.

I figured that we were in for a tough go as there were a whole bunch of transitions that were occurring at the same time; Kara leaving, Tanner and Faith starting a new day care, Jake starting kindergarten, Marisa starting her new job in earnest and the travel starting with it, etc. Transitions have always produced sleep issues for Jake, and Tanner has followed suit as he has gotten older.

The transitions mentioned above were one thing, but the silliest thing started this new episode of sleeplessness off. Here's the event that served as a jumping off point for the last two weeks of sleep struggles:

We had put the boys down to bed a couple of weeks ago and we were downstairs watching TV when they both started screaming out of the blue. Screaming like they were on fire. Marisa and I ran upstairs and found them both up at the top of the stairs crying and screaming saying that there was someone in their room (the proverbial bad guy..). We pulled both of them downstairs and while I tried to calm them down, Marisa went to investigate. (Yes, the same Marisa that once screamed out in the middle of the night because she couldn't find the light switch in the hallway!) . The boys said they heard a breathing or scratching noise and were convinced it was a bad guy. I yelled up to Marisa to check the fish tank as it sometimes makes a suction like noise when the pump well is low on water. She listened in that area and said she thought it was the plug strip that all the fish tank stuff was plugged into and that she was afraid of it starting a fire. So, no big deal, I went out to the garage and got a new plug strip to change it out. While I was bent over unplugging the plugs (the boys still terrified, screaming, and trying to get out of their room). I heard the scratching noise you were talking about. I looked up and the push pin on the Superman poster had fallen out and when the fan hit it, the corner of the poster was scraping the wall and making a noise. Mystery solved.

Even though I was able to demonstrate that there was a logical reason behind the noise, that there was nothing to be scared of , bedtime has been a nightmare of fights and temper tantrums, yelling and tension. Neither of the boys have slept thru the night since, both waking up scared, They both have dark circles under their eyes and are clearly sleep deprived. The behavior struggles went on all day yesterday, until Marisa and I didn't know what to do - except go eat a lot of ice cream. But you know it is a bad day when you've already been eyeing the liquor cabinet and it's not even 9AM yet. Everyone had a good night sleep last night, though, and today was SO MUCH BETTER... so I guess we will discontinue the Craigslist ad we put on listing: Two Boys: Free to Good Home. But until we get thru this little bedtime warfare with several straight nights of blissful sleep....

Damn you Superman....damn you!

Faith- 18 months

I really find it impossible to believe that my little girl has been with us for a year and a half already. She is growing up way too fast and it's a good thing that more babies are not an option because as much as I love the little girl she is growing into, I miss the baby girl I had. It's not that I want another infant- my god we have enough sleep issues in this household- it's more that the time is just going too quickly and I want to hit a pause button.

This is what she is up to:
She is spunky and cuddly and talkative. She can be a brute, has a scowl that would scare a wrestler, and copies everything her brothers do and say. Her favorite game is "Mama, Find Me!" in which she stands in a corner (in plain sight) with her hands over her eyes and yells, "Mama, find me!" repeatedly until I acknowledge her and come scoop her up in my arms. She is a baseball fan, too. She saw her daddy and brothers heading outside this morning with their gear and she ran to the cupboard and grabbed her mitt and ball and tagged along. She loves to play catch and is absolutely delighted when the ball happens to fall into her mitt. She giggles a lot, is strong willed to a fault, and her favorite word continues to be "MINE!". She hates to wear socks or shoes. She loves to push the baby stroller around the kitchen, chasing her brothers. She has learned to eat with a fork and spoon, often picks up books to "read" to herself, and tells us when she is ready to go "nigh-nigh" (still with Sprinkles and Blankey). She loves to give us kisses- making huge "
kiss" noises and running between her daddy, me, Jake, and Tanner to dole them out liberally.

Faith is one loved little girl. Her brothers continue to dote- often coming in while I am rocking her to sleep- kissing her head, stroking her hair, and murmuring things like, "You're my best girl, Faithy. Sleep tight!". Seriously, sometimes it is so Rockwellian it is funny. (However, should you believe for one minute that our household is ACTUALLY Rockwellian, you only need to read several other recent posts to see how much more it resembles a Dali painting than anything else- surreal and strange, a little crazy, but kind of cool at the same time!).

Michael Phelps in the Making

The boys were both really in to the Olympics. I guess it stands to reason- they are into just about every sport they see or try- but it still took Brian and I by surprise. They liked the pageantry of it all- and enjoyed standing up with hands over heart for each rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. In fact, that was one of the songs they picked each night for bedtime. I'm sure my screeching rendition was appreciated by the neighbors.

They especially loved watching Michael Phelps swim and would wait anxiously for his races (often recorded from the night before), then stand up and cheer. Tanner would lay on his tummy in the shallow end of our neighborhood pool, move his arms and legs wildly, and yell, "Look at me! I'm Michael Phelps! I'm Michael Phelps!". This proved to be amusing to all who watched. Jake would wait for me to announce him (ex: "In Lane 3 we have Michael Phelps"), then "dive" in and swim his heart out to the other side. I swear he learned more in technique by simply watching the swim races than he has ever learned in swim lessons.

They weren't only swim fans, however. They also enjoyed the women's softball (possibly the only two in Idaho watching), ping pong, soccer, gymnastics, and diving. They chose the Olympics for each of their TV times each day. It was a welcome break from Dora and Diego, Scooby and Sponge Bob and I think we were all sad to see the 2008 Olympics come to an end.

I vividly remember watching the games when I was young- both '76 and '80 and dreaming of becoming an Olympic gymnast someday. It's so great that at age 5 and 9 it doesn't matter in the least if you have any skill in the sport at all (I had NONE!), the dream was still there. I wonder if the boys will remember this summer's games with fondness when they are grown.

First Day of Kindergarten (Take Two)

Jake has been beside himself with excitement over the last few days. We took him out to buy first day of school clothes yesterday and he picked out plaid shorts, a skateboarder t-shirt, and new basketball shoes. He came right home and laid them out on his bedroom floor, as if he were wearing them- shirt smoothed out at top, shorts under the shirt , socks coming out from each pant leg, shoes at the bottom. He then laid on them and said, "Yep, I think they will all fit me!". He was so anxious to pack his lunch, pack his backpack, etc... Tanner, meanwhile, has been copying everything Jake does. He packed his own backpack (with diapers) and packed his own lunch box. He laid out his clothes next to Jake's and talks about his "new school" and "new teacher". He will start at his new daycare next Monday and I am praying this enthusiasm lasts.

So the morning came- after a LONG night of restless sleep for our big guy. He woke up excited and showered, ate breakfast, and got dressed in his new duds ....but he began to show signs of nervousness during the walk to school. He said he didn't want to go. He said there were too many people. He clung to me on the playground and anxiously asked if we were going inside with him. We did, of course, as did most of the K parents. Surprisingly he was one of the only kids that got teary. More moms were crying than kids, I think. I never, ever thought of myself as a mom that would drop her kid off at Kindergarten and worry. But that's what I did today. Worried if he was OK. Hoping he was happy. And feeling comfortable. And was making friends. And wasn't feeling lonely or sad. So many years I spent in classrooms as the teacher, telling parents not to worry, to just let go, leave, "He'll be fine!" I'd say. I hate to admit I was the last one to leave the room this morning. I did, however, stop myself from going by to check in on him after my workout (which is directly across the street from his school)!

Brian and I picked him up at 3:00 on the nose, along with every other K parent. He looked tired and it took a few minutes for him to talk to us, but when he did he told us that he loves his Kindergarten teacher, friends, and classroom. We took him over to the Merc and treated him to an ice cream and drink and we talked about his day. It was so great to get that one-on-one time with him. He told us happily that there was "nothing about K that he didn't like!".

Road Trip Wrap-Up

Well, I was right about Faith being excited to see her crib. She was in it for 15 hours last night. She didn't wake up until 10:20 this morning. We kept checking on her to be sure she was still breathing. Poor little thing was obviously just worn out!!!! She woke up happy as a clam, however, ready to face the day. The boys were exhausted, too, but they woke up pretty early. We only got 11 hours out of them -and they probably could have both used the 15 that Faith got!

It is (mostly) good to be home. Whenever I am on vacation and return after a short absence I am reminded of how much I love where we live. Our house, the hills, the Merc, the people... But, I am sad that our vacation is over. It was so much more fun than I had even anticipated. The kids were such good sports about the driving- in fact both Faith and Tanner insisted on climbing back in the car and playing in it last night after baths. Very funny considering we had just finished driving 3000 miles in it! I wouldn't hesitate to do a similar trip again-maybe to the Southwest next time- a repeat of the National Park tour I took on my own in a rented little Ford Focus when I was single. But that will have to wait until 2010. Next year's vacations are already spoken for: Clear Lake for a family reunion with Brian's Dad's side of the family in August, and the Delta with my family in July.

So... what did we learn from our first road trip with the three kids? Let's see....

1. Crocs are really the only shoes you need
2. Even five year olds get sick of fast food
3. There are very few Starbucks between Boise and Minnesota, but every little one horse town has some sort of espresso shack
4. Bringing lots of car toys is a good idea- only if you want to be continually up out of your seat, crawling around in the back seat, picking said toys up from the car floor and handing them back to various children
5. Bikers are good traveling companions
6. Car Bingo is a lifesaver
7. Sometimes you need to be smarter than the GPS
8. High brow political commentary is like heroin- we kept wanting to listen to more and only narrowly stopped short of drugging the children so we could actually HEAR it
9. Honeycomb cereal rocks as a car snack
10. A loaded iPod (and children that like to sing along/rock out) is essential to sanity

We're Home!

We're hungry. We're dirty. We're tired. We'll post more later.....

Second to Last Day

Departure City: Billings, MT

Arrival City: Missoula, MT

Driving Time Today: 6 hours

Total Miles Traveled: 2,662.28

Number of Times This Morning that Someone Looked at Me and said, "Looks like you've got your hands full there!": 3

Best Part of the Drive: Getting to play DJ with the 8700 songs on the iPod (It IS my birthday, after all!)

Tanner's Quote of the Day: "Please, Mommy, I eat these mash 'tatos all gone?" (He was referring to McDonalds hashbrowns)

Jake's Quote of the Day: "Peace, Yo!"

Despite a relatively quiet drive- except for the huge, loud, slightly scary hail storm in Butte- we were all pretty tired by 5:00. It could have been the lack of food (it had been a long time since lunch) but I think it was also the cumulative exhaustion of unloading all of our stuff each night, setting up our cabin, finding dinner, trekiing to the nearest bathroom to brush teeth, putting out small sibling fires,etc... that finally sunk in.

For my b'day dinner I chose to take the kids to a McD playland- only because I didn't want to chase after Faith -who for some reason has taken to refusing (loudly) to sit in a highchair, preferring to crawl up on all fours onto the dining table. So, Brian and I got take out Chinese and snuck it into the local McD's (rebels that we are) and gritted out teeth while allowing the kids to eat approximately their 15th fast food meal in the last 10 days. It was a decision that saved us. Seriously. The kids played, we ate and recuperated, and felt ready to enjoy our final night together in our "cabinet" before setting off for Boise tomorrow AM.

The KOA campground in Missoula is rather funny. It is literally 500 yards behind a Ross Department store, bordered on one side by a condo development and on the other by a major highway. The positive side of that is that there is a Coldstone Creamery right next door to Ross which will be my b'day dessert just as soon as we can get the boys to close their eyes and surrender to the sleep that they so desperately need!

Downtown Missoula was really pretty with a huge playground right on the river next to a restored carousel. The kids loved it - Jake loved riding it, and TJ and Faith enjoyed watching Brian and Jake as they spun round and round (supposedly the fastest carousel in the U.S). Although I had really wanted to wander the streets of old town Missoula, shopping and drinking an iced coffee- with the tired kids it was not to be. "Next time," we said as we pushed the stroller with TJ and Jake riding on the back and Faith falling asleep in the seat.

We are all kind of sad that the trip is coming to a close. When I asked Tanner if he was ready to go home and sleep in his own bed and see Milo again he said, "No. I want to go sleep in cabinet again!". Jake, too, commented to me on the way to the campground restroom this evening that he was sad that we were going home tomorrow. Faith is another story- although she has held up amazingly well, I will bet that she will be ecstatic to see her crib tomorrow evening!

Happy Birthday, Love of My Life

I am hastily trying to type this (by flashlight) in the dark in our cabin as you and the kids are sleeping all around me. I have no gifts to give you as Tanner blabbed and gave them to you two weeks ago. We shopped while you were in CA and Tanner kept telling you that we got you coffee cups, and you finally figured out what he was trying to say. So, all I have to give you for this birthday is the memories of this trip, our life together, and the knowledge that I will never stop striving to be a husband and father that you deserve.

I love you honey, I promise another year of me trying to be better than the last, learning from my mistakes, and constantly trying to improve the man that I am, the man who loves you more now than on the day we said I do.

Go Mustangs!

Departure City: Bismarck, ND

Destination: Billings, MT

Miles Traveled Today: 416.01

Total Miles: 2316.90

Number of “stops” to get out of Bismarck: 4

Unnecessary souvenirs purchased (in dollars): $127.95

Healthy Snacks: 0

Home Runs: 2

One of the more anticipated stops on our trip, we had a baseball game penciled in. The Twins were on the road, as was the Missoula Team, but the Billings Mustangs happened to be in town on the same night we were. The Mustangs are in the Pioneer League, and are a minor league franchise of the Cincinnati Reds.

As has been the case with every minor league baseball game we have attended, this was just an awesome experience. The Mustangs play in a brand new stadium in downtown Billings, a truly beautiful park, with grass areas down the foul lines by the bullpens. The bullpen pitchers sit on the other side of a low concrete wall right at the edge of the grass. Jake and Tanner both watched a lot of the game there, cheering and shouting for the Mustangs. They each got several high-fives and fist bumps from the players, DURING the game. Needless to say they were thrilled.

Tanner, as last time, was also thrilled by the foul balls. Jake was able to follow the game and knew what was going on, Faith was happy to roll down the hill, which brings me to one of the more embarrassing confessions in my life as a parent: Faith is almost 18 months old and this was her 1^st baseball game. Both Jake and Tanner were at games in an infant snuggly. We have photos of each of them will ballpark dogs that were bigger than them at the time, not so of Faithy. So her “hotdog” photo was high on my agenda for this game. Even more embarrassing was her total disdain of the ballpark dog. She wanted nothing to do with it (thus the only photo we got was of her drinking a Diet Coke in the vicinity of the hot dog).

It started to rain and we left mid-sixth inning to get three tired kids back to our cabin and in for the night. I tried to download the photos and video (all great of course) while trying to get them down and proceeded to delete everything accidentally, so no photos of this part of the trip.

Whole lotta nothin'

Departure City: Eden Prairie, MN

Arrival City: Bismarck, ND

Miles Traveled Today: 429.6

Total Miles Traveled:1900.98

Number of Minutes of the Barrack Obama book on CD That We Have Been Able to Listen To: 38 (A good idea in theory but between the three kids needing things, talking, screaming (Faith) it is really hard to hear more than a few minutes at a time!)

Worst Dining Experience: Lunch in Fargo, ND @ Space Aliens Bar and Grille. Seriously, it was the worst meal we have ever eaten. IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES. And it cost us a fortune. From here on out we will be sticking to cheap and easy fast food for lunch.

Our last night in MN Lisa found a bunch of old home movies from Brian and her childhood and put them on DVD. We all stayed up until almost midnight watching and reminiscing. It was so fun to see Brian as a little boy learning to walk, swimming, sledding, and playing with his sister and cousin Eric. It is a little scary how much Faith looks like him as a child. Mary and Auntie Sue were laughing so hard I was sure one of them would pee their pants. And Lisa and Brian talked and ribbed each other about old memories that I’m sure neither one had thought of in years! There was Uncle Rick in tight 70’s pants, Eric in a red Christmas dress that A.S. swore was supposed to be a “night shirt”, and Brian in his Speedo. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Daufel and Simonich, as well as great grandparents. It was so much fun that Brian and I have resolved to take more video of the kids- just little snippets that they can someday watch with their kids and laugh at the outfits we put them in, mom’s hairstyle, Dad’s goofy hat, etc….We both want to see the three of them (in 30 years or so) watching footage of our adventures and laughing together at the memories. It was a really special evening and one I won’t forget for a long time.

Not much to say about the drive from MN to ND. It was fairly uneventful- straight and flat. Really, the stop in Fargo and bad food was the most drama we had. After a quick swim in the campground pool last night and several hissy fits from a very tired Tanner, we got an even quicker dinner and were all in bed by 8:15. We are all looking forward to our time in Montana, especially the baseball game tonight: Idaho Falls vs. Billings, MT.