Go Giants!

T-ball is moving right along and would be going perfectly if not for the weather. We have had two games rained out so far (out of a six game schedule), but have been able to re-schedule those, so the kids will get to play all of their games. We have two games this week (one make up) and we should be in the clear weather-wise for awhile.

This group of boys is a little more skilled than last years team so we are doing really well. There are no outs and no score is kept, but so far we have been the best team I have seen, this week will really tell the tale. As always Jake is having a good time and just keeps getting better and better. He has A LOT of friends on the team this year, so I think he is enjoying it more than last year. I also think he is aware that he is better than most of the kids on the team so he is not having any confidence issues either, he is able to just let himself relax and play ball and it's a blast to see (even from a coaches perspective).

Jake

Jake is getting more grown up each day it seems. Hard to believe that Kindergarten will be over in 3 weeks. Although he is a good solid reader, he is not that into listening to books (much to my dismay, of course). He likes picture books somewhat- and funny books like Chet Gecko and Geronimo Stilton- but all of our attempts at "good" chapter books seem to fall on deaf ears. I am dying to read him Harry Potter and Charlotte's Web and Dragon Rider and such, but so far it's a no go.

Sometimes he says things that I swear came straight out of Brian's mouth. It is becoming more and more obvious which traits he has picked up on from each of us- both good and bad. He is kind, loving, friendly, gentle, helpful,and sensitive to other people's needs. He is also needy and demanding and whiny and sarcastic (he gets that from both of us...) and often over tired despite our best efforts to get him to sleep past 6.

While he has a typical love/hate relationship with Tanner, his relationship with Faith appears to be all love. That little girl can get away with murder as far as he is concerned. Tanner, on the other hand, can just look at him wrong and it's all over. Still, they are all playing together really nicely these days. The boys will engage in a game of 1 on 1 basketball or Tanner and Faith race their matchbox cars. While the need is still there for him to be "entertained" by one of us, it is getting better, I think.

He loves to help around the house- probably his favorite thing to do is help his daddy. Recently we had to move everything out of the boys room because we are getting ready to do the construction (build a big closet). He just was so happy helping to carry the things down to the garage, decide which things we would sell at the garage sale, etc... He makes breakfast for the kids on occasion and the other night requested that he be allowed to make us all dinner (He wanted me to rest since I was recuperating from strep throat).

He has his best buddies at school that are his age, but also makes friends with the older kids on the playground, often playing basketball, four square, or tether ball with 2nd graders. I am so, so proud of him and lucky on this (and every) Mother's Day to call him my son.

Tanner

Tanner Bee-nanner, TanMan, Tanner Pants, TJ

No matter what you call him, he is a character. He is the most loving boy- so affectionate. He has definitely been more of a Mama's Boy lately- and I don't mean that in a negative way. My kids have always been partial to their daddy in many ways but lately Tanner wants me and I have to admit, it is really nice! He will crawl up into bed or onto the couch and cuddle with me. It was really hard for him when I was sick last week and he wasn't allowed to kiss me or get too close (dr's orders).

He takes to people really quickly. My mom had a friend visit recently (Carol) and Tanner just fell in love with her. On several mornings after dropping Jake at school I took the little ones over to Nana's for morning coffee and treats. Both days when Carol was there Tanner went upstairs to talk to her while she was getting showered and dressed. He definitely charmed her!

He plays really well with Faith. The two of them definitely have a special relationship, being so close in age. He told me the other day that when he gets old enough he will drive Faith around in the car to where she wants to go and in that instant I could just see it: Faith in the passenger seat with her feet up on the dash bossing Tanner around as he takes her to the mall. Seriously- they are so cute together. Watching them sometimes they remind me of an old married couple- loving and affectionate but also knowing exactly how to push the other's buttons! She calls him "My Tana" and he is almost always delighted to see her after her naps or in the morning when she wakes up.

He also really looks up to Jake, but their relationship is more stereotypical, I think. Neither Brian nor I ever had a brother, so this "brother relationship" is somewhat a mystery to us both. They can play really nicely together and then all of a sudden things will fall apart for seemingly no reason. I don't see competition between them yet, at least not from Tanner's side, but know that it will probably be an issue as they get older.

He can run us ragged some days, being naughty just to see what will happen- especially when he is overtired, but the sweetness and charm win me over every time. He loves to have one-on-one time with each of us and thrives when we are alone.

I know that every mother in the world thinks this, but I am so lucky to have this kid in my life.

Faith

Faith continues to love animals and has recently added a doggie and an old Winnie-the-Pooh bear to her sleeping arrangement. We've got to pare down her stuffies as she will often wake up and call out for us in distress if she can't find the particular one she wants- which is really annoying in any case but especially annoying when it is the miniscule bunny rabbit that she has lost somewhere beneath her covers.

She calls me "My Mommy" as in "Me want some juice please my mommy" or "I love you my mommy!". She calls Tanner "My Tana" and continues to idolize him. The other morning Tanner insisted on wearing two different shoes to school, so of course, Faith had to follow suit. I took them to daycare with Tanner wearing one Cars croc and one blue one, while Faith wore one bright orange/yellow crow and one pink.

She is so affectionate and often will just lay her head on my shoulder and pat my back. When I was sick recently she kept bringing me her prized animals and laying them beside me and asking, "You feel better now my mommy?"

She LOVES to swing and will gladly spend what seems like hours out there in the backyard swinging on her tummy or being pushed by someone. She is playing T Ball with her brothers and hitting off the tee with the best of them. She may be the only two year old out there that can identify not only a hockey stick, tennis racket, and every type of ball known to man but also asks specifically for the Lacrosse stick.

She loves to play outside in our sand box and swim in the hot tub. Her hair is getting longer and she is finally allowing us to put headbands on her. She will watch Dora for hours on end and insists on wearing her Dora shirt whenever possible. She has started crying at daycare drop off, but (just like her brother used to) but stops as soon as the front door closes.

She can be feisty and definitely stands up for herself with her brothers and anyone else that gets in her way. It is so trite to say, but honestly, she is the best little girl in the world and as much as I want to keep her this age forever, I am so excited to see what the next stage will bring.

Dad and Joan Visit

My Dad and his wife Joan came into town this last weekend for a visit. We hadn't seen them here since 2007, so it was great to have them drive up and visit with us.

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding their visist weren't the greatest; Marisa was sick most of the weekend with Strep, and it rained almost all day Saturday and Sunday. Friday night was nice enough to get in some flag football over on the green, so Dad got to see Jake and Tanner in all their football glory before the bad weather set in.

After the rain started, it was indoor weekend. Grandpa Phil and Joan both did great with intensive kid time, playing games, reading books and throwing all sorts of various balls around the house while waiting to see if the weather would clear. We braved the rain for breakfast at the Merc on Saturday and make your own Pizza dinner for the kids at Flatbread Community Oven on Sunday night. I spent the weekend making sure the kids were taking their vitamins and pouring orange juice down everyone's throats trying to stave off Strep for the rest of us (it's a really bad strain apparently, they gave Marisa a shot rather than oral antibiotics, which would be to wimpy to fight it and she's still not feeling any better.....please let it miss the rest of us!)

It was a great visit in spite of everything, and we are looking forward to seeing them (and some extended family) for our vacation week in Clearlake in August.

Idaho's Own John Muir

Jake's school did an "essay" contest for Earth Day. Students in grades K-8 wrote about the environment in one form another. Jake's essay is to the left and is about squirrels of all things! The top 15 from each grade level were recognized with certificates of achievement and then the top three won prizes.

We were notified by the PTA on Tuesday that Jake was in the top 15 so we planned to go to the school assembly on Thursday for the award presentation. We found out Wed. night that Jake won one of the three top awards, but weren't told which one.


Jake wasn't told that he was in the running, as we were asked to keep it a secret from the kids. So on Thursday afternoon Nana, Brian, and I met Jake at his assembly and we watched as the 15 Kindergarten finalists were called up to the stage. The principal had two middle school drummers there to do a drum roll as he announced the third place winner, second place, winner, and first place winner. Jake won 2nd place!

The assembly continued and did the same thing for grades 1-4, reading each winning essay aloud. It was really cool to see him shine in this area. He was completely surprised and I think a little in awe that he had won. His prize pack was a "Movie Night" theme with a family size pizza, 2 liter bottle of soda, popcorn, 2 movie rentals, and a five dollar gift card (all from our local restaurant, "The Merc"). He is so excited to plan our family night with his winnings.

When Brian and I told him how proud we were of him he said, "I'm proud of myself, too! I didn't think I did that good. I can't believe I won!"

Boise Burn

So, moving from an area that I lived in for most of my life that had; two NFL teams, two MLB teams, an NHL team, an NBA team, several major college programs, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Al Davis etc.....the change in sports landscape has been one of the more drastic changes for me out of the whole deal.

We have; a major/minor college program (depending on where you fall on the whole MAC conference debate) and wow, it kind of drops off a cliff after that. We have a MLB Minor league franchise (kind of...it's A-Ball), a ECHL Minor League Hockey team (albeit league champs last year and the year before), an NBA D-Ball team (also league champs last year)....not a hotbed of major league talent. But better that all that, last year was the first year for our Arena League 2 team the Boise Burn.

That's right, not Arena Football, MINOR LEAGUE Arena Football. So we decided to give it a shot this year. Jake had gotten tickets for his birthday from his Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue so we went out last night (Nana stayed home with Faith). It was a good game and really enjoyable for the most part. 

There are three former BSU Broncos that play on the team, so Jake was really excited about that, and it is Arena League Football, so it's pretty exciting to watch....lot's of scoring, balls flying into the crowd etc. This was probably Tanner's favorite live sporting event that we have been to, because the Burn do not have a mascot in a big costume. Tanner happliy pointed out half way thru the game that there was no mascot, and was able to let his guard down and just enjoy the game on the field instead of keeping constant tabs on the giant Hawk or Husky or whatever.

Arena crowds are football crowds (and if you are keeping a list, football crowds rank at pretty near bottom of the list of "family friendly" environments. Surprisingly enough, hockey crowds are at the top of the list). But the two jackasses behind us, insisted on describing all the various body parts of the cheerleaders, using "colorful" language to say the least, when it's fairly obvious that we have two small kids with us. I turned around of couple of times and made my displeasure known, but they would stop for a bit and start up again later. After Tanner got an entire cup of beer dumped over his head (which was an accident and they did feel really bad about) I went down and asked to be moved, which the stadium people were really cool about. They found us much better seats and moved us without a problem.

It was a fun time out, followed as always by sleepover night (me in one bed with one kid, Marisa in another with the other), but I think I'll maybe hit a couple of hockey games next year and concentrate on BSU games for my football fix. The Boise Hawks start up here in a month or so and I am looking forward to taking the kids out to catch a ball game or two (even one's with infield doubles...).

Giants 1st Game

We had our 1st Tball game last week. It was just before spring had really sprung (that explains all the people under blankets in the photos) and it was a bit cold out still. There was snow in the forecast, it ws supposed to get down to 28 that night and the sky was threatening the entire day, but the weather held off and we were able to get a game in.

The boys did great. We got three legitimate outs at 1st base (that might be more than all last season) and everyone hit fairly well. Jake is enjoying being one of the "veterans" this year and is trying to work with the inexperienced players (sounding WAAAAYY too much like me, talking to him....it's a little freaky). But he continues to progress. He is hitting much better, throws like a champ and is getting better and better at catching the ball. 

We built a minors ballfield down at his school and he likes to go down there and "workout" just he and I. He hits a couple of buckets of balls off the tee, then I hit him a couple of buckets. Last time he caught a pop fly, so he wants to work on that now. The North Boise Little League actually uses the field as well, so we are able to watch some minors games there after we finish up practices which are a lot of fun, because Jake

 knows some of the bigger boys from school, so he has a rooting interest in some fo the games.

It is beautiful here now, it's supposed to be in the 80's this week, so we are trying to make some time to go today and "workout" a little bit, but hopefully the games will be a little less "arctic" from here on out.

Easter '09

Saturday was the Hidden Springs Easter Party with an easter egg hunt for the little ones on the village green, cookies and punch inside, games on the lawn, and picture opportunities with the Easter Bunny himself. Faith and Tanner both loved the egg hunt- the limit was 12 eggs so I had to trail behind Faith and take out all the "extra" eggs she put in as she continued to grab more off the lawn and add them to her collection. She was unstoppable. Tanner was much more concerned about the number- he didn't want to go over 12.

After the egg hunt we went over to the Merc for treats. Tanner and Faith saw the Easter Bunny and told me in no uncertain terms that they would NOT be posing for a picture of him. They wouldn't go anywhere near him. Mom had to pick up Tanner to even get him in the Merc and past the bunny to the treat tables. Anyway, we got settled in at a table to eat our cookies (in a different room than the Easter Bunny was in) and all was peaceful. Until the Easter Bunny- unbeknownst to any of the adults- decided to take a stroll through the room we were in. Mom and I were both about 15 feet from the kids- chatting with friends- as he strolled past the kids' table. The only reason we realized this was the high pitched screaming that ensued. Faith and Tanner both dropped their easter baskets, candy flying, and screamed with fear, trying to run to us but unable to get to us without getting closer to the bunny. Mom and I tried to get to them but the bunny was also blocking our path. As comical as it was, I am sure that both Tanner and Faith will have an unnatural fear of bunnies for all of time. It was very reminiscent of our morning with Santa this past December. Now every time the words "Easter Bunny" are mentioned Faith gets a furrowed, worried little brow and says in all seriousness, "Easter Bunny scare me. No like Easter Bunny".

That evening we dyed eggs. I remember this annual event with great fondness from my childhood, but as an adult I just haven't gotten into it. It lasted a grand total of about 10 minutes until the eggs were all broken and dyed varying hues of green, purple, and mostly brown. The kids liked it well enough, but I think for me it may be one of those traditions that goes by the wayside soon.

For our Easter morning hunt Brian and I made up clues ,so inside the eggs (instead of candy) were clues leading the kids to their baskets. The baskets were literally overflowing with gifts from Grandma Mary, Nana, Auntie Sue, and from us. It was WAY over the top and bordering on ridiculous, but it was fun. Faith loves the stuffed rabbit that dances and sings and she repeatedly pushes his paw to make him shake his bunny booty and sing "Hop!" (a really annoying but surprisingly funny version of "Shout"). I give her one more day and then it's into the Easter basket until next year with the singing bunny.

Things got a little crazy in the afternoon as Tanner refused to nap and threw a HUGE 90 minute fit that ended with us putting the door back on his bedroom (don't ask why it was off in the first place....) and locking him in his room where he still refused to nap but eventually calmed down. He fell asleep on the brief drive to dinner and was in bed by 6:30. That kid is a holy terror when he is tired and Easter was his third day in a row without a nap.

It was a beautiful spring day and it was great to have Mom with us before she heads back to Truckee for the summer.

Opening Day - Divide and Conquer

If Marisa and I can't learn to divide and conquer on our own (which we clearly can't), we'll have it thrust upon us out of necessity, today being a prime example. Today was opening day for the North Boise Little League....and....the Easter Egg Hunt in Hidden Springs.

I am coaching Jake's T-Ball team again this year (we are the Giants) and had to work at the opening day in addition to being there for pictures and the skills challenge after, so it was me and Jake today and Marisa and the little kids stayed home to hunt for eggs.

Jake was a trooper as he had to hang out at the Little League complex while I did my volunteer time; timing the Majors teams as they ran the bases and working my turn at the snack bar grill. Then our team showed up for pictures and we started the skills challenge after that.

We have about half the kids back from our team last year, and the other kids haven't p

layed T-Ball before, so we have a good mix of experience on our team. Jake did excellent in all of the skills challenges; he came in fourth running the bases (behind the three biggest kids), second in pitch speed (crossing my fingers on a "retirement package") and tied for second in hitting distance (behind the biggest kid from last year), so he is really set to go from a skill perspective. 

After all morning and part of the 

afternoon at the ball field, we were both starving and headed out to Westside Drive-In to get some burgers and the best fries in the entire world. Jake powered down a cheesburger and we headed home to catch the tail end of the egg hunt. They colored eggs and everyone is tired and limping towards bedtime as we speak.

We have our first of six games this Tuesday and I am looking forward to a great season.

Tahoe March 2009

What a great trip! We planned it over the Christmas holiday when we got to have a brief visit with Joe and Susie at Kim's house and it actually happened! You know how those things tend to go.... one or another of the families gets a sick kid or has to work or bows out to due some sort of family drama or another. But we all made it to Tahoe together for a long weekend of good food, good friends, and good times.


We left Thursday after work and ended up driving the whole way. Lots of loud music- and kids that slept- made the drive easy and fast. We arrived at 1:30 in the morning and the kids waited patiently under heavy blankets on the couch while Brian and I set up the beds, turned on the heat, unloaded the car, etc.... At one point Tanner asked me, "Mom, can I PLEASE go to bed now???" That's a first, believe me!

Joe and Susie arrived the next afternoon and Kim, Bill and the kids joined us later that evening. It was like a daycare with the five kids running around, all involved in various activities and mostly trying to get the adults to play freeze tag with them. Jake was the oldest one there, at six years old, and took a real liking to Jasper. The picture to the left is Jake sharing his iPod with him- each with one side of the headphones.

Each of the families took a night to cook so the chores were divided and made easier with bottles of wine and a few beers. Despite having some sick kids (and, hence, kids that didn't sleep very well) it was a really fun and relaxing weekend. Susie and I even got to go to a Bikram class on Saturday morning while Joe and Bill skied and Brian and Kim took the kids to the Discovery Museum. Sunday we switched spouses again as Brian, Kim, Joe, and Susie took the oldest four kids tubing while Bill and I took the younger two back to the museum and did some grocery shopping.

We watched some movies, read magazines, listened to lots of good music, and reminisced about past Tahoe trips- including Kim's famous "Worminator" move in charades.



The drive back home was uneventful -and reminded us once again that an 8 hour drive is nothing- especially if at the end of it you get to spend quality time with lots of old friends.

Activities with Dad

Jake, Tanner, and Brian started our garden today. Apparently some of the vegetables need to be started indoors, then moved outside come Spring so they planted some of the seeds in this little plastic container thingy that is now a makeshift table centerpiece. Tanner lost interest quickly, but Jake was really into it. They planted onions, two kinds of tomatoes, basil, cantelopes, and zuchinni. The compost is going well and Brian has been really good about getting the plot of our yard ready for planting in a few weeks. Since I seem to kill any plant I have ever had (could have something to do with my lack of attention to details- like watering....) I will be anxious to see if the boys can get this garden to take off. If we do get to make fresh veggie pizzas, fresh salsa, and garden fresh omelettes this summer I have no doubt it will be "despite me" not "because of me".

The boys also played their first flag football game. Sort of. It was only the three of them. Tanner's belt had to be wrapped around his waist three times- and even then it was falling off of him. It was Brian and Tanner vs. Mom and Jake. Jake's getting really good at catching the ball and running with it, but doesn't like to give up the glory by letting mom score any touchdowns- even when Dad is clearly going to grab a flag. Faith was sick, so she missed our game, preferring to lay on the couch surrounded by her animals watching (what else?) Dora.

Faith and her Baby Horsies

I know, logically, that if we had bought as many toy pigs or goats or elephants as we have horses, that she would probably have an interest in one of those animals, but it is so cute how attached she is to her horsies. She literally has a herd of them. She plays with them in her room, putting them to bed in their stable and waking them up. She tries to ride them and sits on them saying "Giddyup! Giddyup!" She puts them on her truck and "takes them to Mommy's house". She drags them all downstairs and sits with them while watching Dora or Diego. She calls them all "her baby horsies". If she is sad or upset about something the first thing her brothers do is bring her the baby horsey herd.

Jake's Birthday

We had ten boys to Gem State Gymnastics for Jake's party over the weekend. It was a lot of fun- there were trampolines and bouncy houses, swinging ropes and a pit full of foam that the kids could jump into. It was pretty much "free play" for an hour on all the equipment. Brian and I had our hands full keeping Tanner and Faith out of harm's way. Faith almost got nailed by one of the kids on the swinging rope thingy. She loved the balance beam and spent most of her time scooting along that and playing on the indoor playground slide. Tanner did everything the big kids did. After cake and presents we took two of Jake's friends out to dinner with us, then had one of them spend the night. We had movie night with Madagascar 2 and pancakes for breakfast.

On his real birthday we had dinner over at the Merc with Grandma. He opened his presents there. He got several Wii games and some football/basketball shirts. He was enthusiastic about everything and came home to try out the MLB Wii game before bed. The flag football set that Brian picked up at the last minute was the big hit, though. He's now ready to host 10 person flag football games on the green across from the Merc on Friday Nights this summer. He also got his first cup- which he thought was pretty funny- , a "real" football, and a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids.

At bedtime I told him all about the night he was born and sang him the first song I ever sang to him(Irish Lullabye). That's when he popped the question: "Mom, how DO babies get born anyway?". I told him how he and his brother and sister were born (cutting open my tummy). Then he asked how most babies are born. So, I told him all about it. He giggled, looked a little embarrassed and said, "Mom.... that is REALLY weird!".

He is smart and funny and warm hearted. He loves Sportscenter and books , music and Wii, four square and cheeseburgers. He has lots of friends, is willing to try new things on his own, and is one of the sweetest people I know. I am lucky to be his Mom and even when he is trying my every last nerve I am so proud of the person he is becoming.

Kids Toys

It's pretty easy to see why American children are having so much trouble in the global marketplace of science and technology....the toys. Jake got a bunch of stuff at his 6th birthday yesterday (Marisa will write about the party later), but one of the gifts was a marble rollercoaster contraption that he really wanted us to build today. 

The box said for kids six and up, but it's also an Italian toy, so that must mean six year olds who understand the metric system and plan to grow up and design new Ferarri engines. It's an AWESOME toy (says the 40 year old)! The instructions were 12 pages or so, it's got these amazing cable systems with clamps and pulleys, and you need to make all sorts of minute adjustments to get the thing to work with the different wieghts of marbles that it comes with. It teaches design and engineering concepts, encourages fine motor skills, direction following, cause and effect, and to a certain extent, the beginning principles of physics.

The kids (Jake, his friend Sean who slept over, and Tanner) spent about 5 minutes total "helping" me try to build it, before they lost interest. Then they played slam dunk, four square and football while I finished it up. Once you make all of the adjustments, even then, they have to be careful rolling the marble, because if they don't stay at the precise speed the thing is tuned for they go flying off the track. It really is a pity they don't make these things for adults, because a lot of the grown-up guys who read this blog (you know who you are) would have wanted them after putting it together (I know I have already hit the website). Plus, the damn thing glows in the dark!

Trip to Gold Fork Hotsprings

This was one of those rare weekends where we didn't have anything to do either day. Faith's birthday was on Friday and then....no ski lessons, no playdates, no social events, no sports stuff, no nothin'. Well we weren't exactly sure how to deal with that (you mean stay at home with all three kids, all weekend long....yeah right!)  so we decided to hit the road.

The majority of the State of Idaho is over geothermal hot beds, so there are natural hot springs everywhere. Some are private, some are in National Parks etc., but we've never been and you know in all those activity books for kids, they all mention taking the young'uns out to the hotsprings. So we loaded up the Suburban (damn the energy crisis!) and headed north into the mountains. 

Gold Fork Hotsprings is outside (meaning waaaay outside in the hills) of Donnelly,

 which is an hour and a half drive from here usually. About 1/2 hour out of town Faith threw up everywhere, carseat, clothes, blankets etc. She was perfectly happy, just covered with vomit. We stopped at

 the side of the river and cleaned her

 up, but had neglected to bring a change of clothes (we usually don't remember the diaper bag either) so that's why she has no pants on in the picture, outside, in 24 degree weather. A little while later we had to stop so Tanner could go the bathroom in the snow (look Dad, it's like a lemon snow cone), and then again so Jake could go (no snow cone this time, we had to find a gas station). So roughly three hours later we got to the turn off for the hotsprings, which really just began the journey. 

We had to drive probably 6-7 miles down a one lane, snow covered road out into the middle of nowhere to get to the place. I started to think the entire thing was a scam and we were going to round the next bend into a hillbilly camp, whereupon we would be robbed of all our wordly possesions and sent off into the snowy wilds to try to find our way back to society. But eventually we found it. 

It was really neat, the hottest pool was over 105 (hotter than most hottubs) and way too hot for comfort, but as the pools (there were 5) cascaded further away from the source they got progressively cooler. The main pool was probably 102 or so and was huge, like a swimming pool with rocks and boulders and snow all around. We only went into one other pool which was

 cooler, but shallower, so

 the kids liked it, but eventually Marisa and I were able to talk them back into the bigger pool.

We only stayed for an hour or so, and the little ones slept parts of the (much quicker) drive home. So a great trip all around (if I can get the vomit smell out of my car...) and another Idaho landmark to check off our "to-do travel" list. We really had a good time, so next time you visit, don't be surprised if we suggest it.....

Faith Turns 2

I turned on the evening news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turning 102 today.
They asked him what's the secret to life.
He looked up from his old pipe,
Laughed and said, "All I can say is...
Don't Blink"
- Kenny Chesney


It doesn't seem possible that this little girl- this little surprise of ours- has been with us for two years already! She is usually very even tempered and fun to be around. She entertains herself really well. Currently one of her favorite games is playing "Parking Garage" in which she drives all of our ride on toys in our living room (5- believe it or not!) and parks them in another place. Lately she has started standing on each of them, putting her arms out, and yelling "Me skateboarding!!", then jumping off. She loves puzzles and books and copying her brothers' every move. She can be feisty and stubborn but is also such a little snuggler. She loves listening (and singing) to music, dancing, and playing all the sports that her brothers play. She loves to color and will happily sit at the table for long stretches with her crayons and markers. Of course, she's not an angel. She's TWO so her favorite phrases are "Me do it!" and "NO!".

We got her a rocking pony for her main birthday present and she is quite enamored with it. She named it "Rocket" and climbs on and off herself (many, many times in the last 24 hours). She got lots of clothes, a Baby Jaguar doll from Jake (which made 8 stuffies in her bed last night), several books, and a stick horse from Nana. Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary gave her a table and chairs for her bedroom which is designed like an old fashioned ice cream parlor table. She loves it all. Her birthday cake was (what else?) a horse theme. She didn't actually eat a piece of cake. Instead, she kept taking the plastic horse, dipping it into the frosting, licking its feet, then repeating the process over and over. Jake videotaped all of the festivities, narrating like a pro.

I'm going to try really hard not to blink this year- she is growing up way too fast!

Into the home stretch...

As we start to wind down the school year, we are getting started early on the end of the year events. Last night was Jake's last Chess Club Tournament and pizza party. He loves to play chess, but as it gets warmer and warmer out, he is trying to get through his matches faster and faster (not caring whether he wins or loses) so he can go outside and play four square in between match start times.

He still loves to play chess, and says he wants to do chess club next year, but he also says he wants to play football and hockey and basketball and lacrosse and snowboarding. We recently talked to Jake's pediatrician about his kidney issue, and he feels that there is no danger to Jake's kidney from contact sports. Come to find out, amazingly enough, the number one cause of kidney damage after auto accidents is.....sledding. Jake was a champ when we first explained to him (in error, as it turns out) that he couldn't play contact sports, so now that he knows he can, he is off and roaring.

Just for fun....Faith

Faith at a couple of hours and then almost 2.

Just for fun.....Tanner

Tanner at 8 months and then at 3+ years old.

Just for fun....Jake

Since Faithy's 2nd birthday is on Friday and they are growing up waaaay too fast. Jake at 6 months and almost 6 years old.

Some More Things to Remember

Tanner's current favorite songs:

• The Boys Are Back in Town- Thin Lizzy
  


• Don't Blink- Brad Paisley
  


• Help Me Rhonda- The Beach Boys
  

Movie Night:
Movie Night on Saturday was a big hit. The kids all laid on the floor with stuffies and a blanket and watched "Horton Hears a Who". It was the first time we played a movie from beginning to end with attention held by all three.

The Slam Dunk Reenactment:

The boys watched the "Slam Dunk Contest" (NBA) and then for weeks after replicated the winning dunks. Tanner was Nate Robinson and Jake was Dwight Howard. If you saw the pros dunk, this makes a pretty funny picture.

Faith's Singing:

Faith sings several lines from all the songs from "Mama Mia. She also loves "Don't Blink" but probably only because her idol (that would be Tanner) wants to listen to it constantly.

Jake's Recycling Discovery:
For awhile now Brian and I have been surreptitiously throwing some of Jake's Kindergarten work into the recycling bin. We keep the good stuff, but there's so much that is meaningless: dot-to-dots, math worksheets, etc.... But we knew it would bother him if he knew about it. Well, the jig is up. Tonight Brian asked Jake to take out a cardboard box. He was gone for a long time- so long that we were about to go out looking for him- when he walked into the kitchen with an absolutely devastated look on his face holding about a dozen of his papers in his hands. He burst into tears and said things like, "I work SO hard at school and you THROW it away???". Drama King that he is, it went on for some time- even after we had told him about the fact that we don't have enough drawer space, that we need to take care of our earth and save trees, etc... I don't think a dollar will be enough for the therapy jar for this one- I'm putting in a five.

Faith's Bedtime:
Faith crinkles up her nose, squeezes her eyes shut, and says, "ME!" when I ask her, "Who does Mommy love?" and "Who's Mama's best girl?"- our little bedtime ritual.

Tanner's Enthusiasm about Preschool:

We signed him up to start preschool next year at the school next door to our house. Literally, the playground is right next to our backyard. He is so excited to start (in August). He points it out to everyone and showed our guests the flyer they sent us. He and Brian went to an Open House there while I was up skiing with Jake last weekend and he couldn't wait to take me to look in the windows when I got home.

Skiing with Jake:

After his lesson on Saturday we hit the slopes together. I loved riding on the lift with him and playing "Follow the Leader" down the mountain. It truly gave me an indication of things to come- enjoying activities together as a family on a whole different level.

A House Full of Kids:

A friend of mine (the mother of one of Jake's friends) is going back to school to get her teaching credential. She is a single mom and knowing she could use some help, Brian and I volunteered to pick up her THREE boys from school each Tuesday and watch them until she got home at 5:30.

Jake loves it. The boys are K, 2nd grade, and 8th grade. They spend all afternoon playing Four Square, Basketball, and hockey. This Tuesday was an early release and so we volunteered to pick up three additional boys and keep them for awhile. We had 8 boys in our house for several hours- it was great! The Peterson household was always the place to hang out after school when I was growing up and I'd love to be that household here.

Day on the Slopes - Jake

Jake, on the other hand (pun not intended), did awesome. He went for his 3rd ski lesson, and rode the chairlift up and came down the coaches run all day. He was turning back and forth across the slope, speeding up and slowing down, and just looked like he was doing great and having a blast.

His instructor says he is doing great and that they might go up one of the bigger slopes next time. After his lesson we went snowboarding (well he did), and did great at that as well. He seemed concern that I hurt myself, but come to find out that his main concern was whether or not I could still play football with him.

Day on the Slopes - Dad

Okay, so this is a picture of a broken arm. Before we get started with this update, we're going to play a quick game of "guess who's injured?"

1. Our contestant recently turned 40 years old, which people keep telling me, "isn't young anymore"

2. Our contestant just started snowboarding last weekend, and took the instructors praise a little too seriously.

3. Our contestant is a whole lot bit of an idiot, as evidenced by:

-Snowboarding for the second time on snow conditions described as "hard packed"

- Trying to see if he was able to perform a "quick stop" on basically a sheet of ice.

- Falling in the textbook manner in which he was instructed NOT to fall.

- After crashing and, as it turns out, breaking his arm, he:

-went up for four more runs, while wondering why his forearm bruised so quickly

-walked back to the car and stored his snowbaord gear

- walked back to the lodge and picked up Jake, carryng him down the stairs

- walked back to the car, carrying all of Jake's ski gear.

- lifted Jake into the car and changed his ski boots for snowboard boots

- carried Jake's snowboard back to the lodge

- got lunch for himself and Jake and sat down and ate

- took Jake out on the slope for an hour or so and showed him how to snowboard

-manually pulled Jake up the coaching slope four times for runs down so he could practice

-carried Jake's snowboard back to the car

-drove 45 minutes back down the winding mountain home

-fixed a snack

-watched some TV

-changed clothes

-THEN decided that a trip to the ER was probably a good idea

Who is our mystery contestant? I don't really have to answer that now, do I?

Snowboarding 101

I am embarrassed to admit I never even made it on the "flying carpet" to the top of the learning slope. Never even put my back foot in! The instructor tried hard, but I finally just told him to give up on me, focus on Brian, get him through the basics and leave me to it on the not-even-a-bunny-slope. I spent the rest of the hour trekking up the little hill, sliding back down- trying really hard to avoid pedestrians- falling on my ass, then trekking back up again. I know it doesn't sound like fun, but since it was only an hour, and I was able to watch Brian and Jake in their lessons at the same time, it was actually a good time. But, no, I won't be doing it again. When the instructor left Brian at the top of the hill and boarded past me, he stopped and told me not to be discouraged because (and I quote....) "Brian is an exceptionally fast learner. Most students are just like you." OK.... that made me feel a little better. So, as expected, Brian is heading to Play it Again Sports to spend a bit of our tax return on a "new" snowboard while I head to my yoga class- someplace I feel a lot less like a heffalump and a lot more graceful.

Sleeping Arrangements

I have to admit that taking down Faith's crib this weekend was a little emotional for me. All three of our children slept in it and to me getting rid of it was such a symbol of the kids growing up. As happy as I am that daily life is getting easier and easier everyday, there is a part of me that isn't ready to "say goodbye" to the baby phase of my life.

Still, Faith was overjoyed by the transition. As soon as the bed was built she climbed right up, snuggled under the covers, and stayed there playing and listening to her music all through her naptime. 2.5 hours later we gave up on her actually falling asleep and just got her up. At bedtime she again crawled right in, sprawled out, and passed out until morning.

She awoke without the usual welts on her forehead, previously caused by pressing up against the side of the crib after being curled up into a little ball in the corner. She goes to sleep with a full menagerie still, each day adding new animals to the mix. The first three nights in the big girl bed have gone great.....I'm just wondering how many days of this we have until she figures out that she can get in and out of the bed by herself and we find ourselves barricading her bedroom door as she screams herself to sleep and throws soggy diapers at us (aka her biggest brother)

Tanner has also been sleeping in his

own bed for the last week. He prefers to sleep with Jake, but after a continued theme of naughtiness at bedtime, we had to make a new rule: Tanner gets one chance. If he messes around, bothers Jake, or causes a ruckus of any kind, he moves to his bed for the rest of the night. He doesn't like it, but hasn't figured out that the way to stay in Jake's bed is all within his control. It is really cute to listen to them after I put them to bed. I stand on the stairs out of their sight sometimes. The other night Tanner rolled over and said, "Jake, I love you!" and Jake answered back, "I love you, too, Tanner. Sleep tight! I'll see you in the morning."

On a funny but "Should we be letting this happen?" note....our mornings have begun lately with "bathroom talk" between the boys. (Germaphobes please stop reading here) Apparently when Jake gets up to go potty at 6:30ish Tanner wants to come with him. So Jake has taken to bringing Tanner a blanket and he camps out on the bathroom floor while Jake does his business. They just chat and chat in there, which we can hear highlights of from our bedroom. It is hysterical to listen to.

A Day of Firsts

Jake had his first ski lesson yesterday. He has been so excited to get started but I had my concerns that he would actually enjoy it since he tends to not like the cold. Brian and I were so proud of him- he just got his gear, walked into the Mogul Mouse Ski School at Bogus Basin and waved goodbye as he walked in to join his teacher and class. I am constinually amazed at his ability to try new things. We watched from the lodge for awhile, then went outside to the mini-hill to see up close. We couldn't tell if he was having fun or not- it looked like hard work and it also looked pretty frustrating! There were no smiles to be had. He takes to sports so easily, I was worried he would have one of those, "If it's not easy I don't want to do it!" kind of reactions.

When we went back to the lodge to pick him up at lunchtime his instructor walked him out and Jake was sobbing. I thought that was it- skiing was not going to work out. Turned out his tooth had just fallen out- his first one! It was bleeding a lot and he was a little scared. His instructor (bless his heart) was actually holding the bloody little thing and while I carefully washed it and put it in my change purse, Brian got Jake cleaned up and calmed down. Turns out he LOVED his lesson and can't wait to go back. Brian and I set up a snowboarding lesson for Valentine's Day (while Jake is at his second lesson). If i know my husband, I am sure we will be heading to the "end of the season" snowboard sales by mid-March.

The tooth fairy came last night- although Jake did not want the tooth under his pillow. He requested that we put it downstairs so that the fairy wouldn't actually enter his room. There was a dollar waiting for him in the morning and Jake swears he saw fairy dust. He now has this gappy little grin that melts my heart- a visual reminder of how big my little boy is getting.

The Big 4-0

After a wonderful weekend away last weekend where we slept in, ate good food, watched a matinee and wandered the streets of downtown Boise in varying levels of snowfall without the children, we had the actual birthday event on Friday. Despite Chili's no longer serving the Blooming Onion (Brian's one request for dinner) we had a great time celebrating with the kids, Mary,and my mom. I think Jake was actually more excited about Brian's b'day than he was- he had told all of his teachers that his daddy was turning 40 so throughout the week Brian kept getting ribbed by different people at Jake's school: the PE teacher, the K teacher, parents of friends, etc.... For his 40th his family went together to get him a Wii- complete with Wii Fit, NFL Madden 2008, Wii Music, and Shawn White Snowboarding. Once again, I'm not sure who was more excited: Jake or Brian.
We have a snowboarding lesson next week- on a real board- and he can't wait to get started with that new hobby, too!

I am so proud of him. He set a goal two years ago to be in the best shape of his life when he turned 40. He has been working so hard to lose weight, get in shape, and eat better. He reached his goal and lost close to 50 pounds. He eats veggies now (a small miracle) and traded in ice cream in the evenings for yogurt (I really wish I could kick that addiction!!!). His blood pressure and cholesterol is significantly lower... and did I mention how GOOD he looks???

I definitely got a keeper.