Fourth Of July 2011

We were lucky enough to have guests in town, staying at Mom's house, for the last few weeks. Yet another California recruit to Boise! Sheila and Wayne decided to "live" in Boise for a few weeks to see if they might want to retire here in a few years (or sooner!). At first convinced they wanted to live in the North End, after spending some time in Hidden Springs walking the trails, eating at the Merc, and enjoying the scenery, I think they may now be leaning toward becoming our neighbors! It was so much fun having them down the street from us. The kids all loved "Funky Wayne" (named, much to Wayne's embarrassment, by Tanner when he was just starting to talk) and Auntie Sheila. I am pretty sure Sheila and Wayne haven't had that many hugs per day for a long time! We had lots of fun, including watching a Giants game at our houseone night, having a babysitter and going out with the adults to a great dinner and Allison Krauss concert, spending a day at Lucky Peak on the boat, and attending a Hawks baseball game and fireworks.

The kids did the neighborhood parade in the morning of the 4th. Tanner and Faith got to ride in the fire truck and throw candy out to all the parade watchers. This was thanks to the family of one of Tanner's best friends who works for the fire department. Jake rode his bike on his own and collected bags of the above mentioned candy. We only hung out for a little while at the concert/bouncy house/BBQ extravaganza because we had to do naps in order to be ready for the Hawks game. It was a busy 4th of July weekend but the Hawks game-ending in a walk-off home run in the 10th followed by an absolutely amazing and almonst-too-close-for-comfort fireworks display that went on forever- was worth it!

There was no time to be sad at Sheila and Wayne's departure, however, as four hours after they left for CA Brian's sister and her husband and five kids arrived to spend a few days with us. This is a huge treat for all of us, as the last time we saw them all was two years ago at Clear Lake. It is a short visit- just Tuesday-Thursday- and we have no plans, just a lot of hanging out together and enjoying each others company. I am sure there will be plenty of pool time tomorrow and then they are taking us all to dinner at Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine tomorrow night. They all get along so well together and seeing them together makes me wish once more that the Crebar's lived closer to us so the cousins could grow up together.

We love having visitors and even though our summer is a little chaotic and crazy I am enjoying every second of it and hoping it doesn't slip away too fast!

After All This Time....

...I should know better. A little background:

Marisa is out of town this week in Las Vegas and I have all three kids (plus a friend) for most of the day and evenings. This week we have had football practice one night and swim lessons two nights, so I am a little bit frazzled, and not the most patient father to begin with.

Next. Eggo toaster waffles are regular items on our daily menu. We buy the big boxes almost every week and it's a rare day that goes by when someone doesn't have waffles with syrup for a meal or a waffle and peanut butter sandwich. So anyway, that's all background for this mornings exchange with Faith.

She said she wanted a peanut butter/waffle sandwich...fine. She won't eat a whole one and a 1/2 one isn't enough (she's hungry 10 minutes later). Tanner was having waffles with syrup, so genius Dad figures, okay I'll make her 3/4 of a sandwich, throw the extra pieces in with Tanners waffle and thus solve the problem. Now, it's not like I cured cancer or anything, but I was feeling a bit proud of my creativity. Not wanting any issues I thought that I should explain that I expected her to eat the whole thing. Here's the dialog, verbatim:

Dad: "Faith, I made you a three quarters sandwich, I want you to eat the entire thing"

Faith immediately starts crying.

Dad: "Faith, what? Why are you crying?"

Faith (sobbing): " But Daddy I said I wanted a PEANUT BUTTER sandwich"

Jesus.

Fathers Day 2011

Happy Fathers Day all! This has been a rough year so far from a Fatherhood perspective. I have been trying to think what to write all day, and I think I have the perfect analogy. 2011 for me so far has been just like Derek Jeter's 2011 season... let me explain.

I'm getting older. I don't have as much range as I used to. I sometimes struggle making the routine plays. I'm still the captain of the team, but it's more ceremonial than anything anymore, as I don't really carry the weight of the title. I re-built my whole swing in the offseason, but struggled out of the gate, so I scrapped all the changes and went back to my old swing. I'm trying for my 3,000th hit, but am on the DL for one of the few times in my career. I'm not hitting for extra bases anymore, instead, slapping singles here and there and getting on base due to errors. I have another couple of years left on my contract, but everyone is just waiting for me to retire. The analogy kind of falls apart when you get to the point of dating Minka Kelly, but what can you do?

It spite of my Jeterish 1st half of the year, I had a

great Fathers Day. I got a bunch of very nice gifts, including several very nice pictures and bookmarks from the kids. NFL Sunday Ticket from my lovely wife (now I've just gotta hope for a football season). We had breakfast out and I got to eat a chocolate donut that was as long as my forearm. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and I got some new shoes. Marisa and the kids went out to the YMCA, so I got some time alone to watch a James Bond movie (Casino Royale - awesome!). Then out for great burgers and fries for dinner followed by ice cream from the candyshop. Then we took Jackson down to the dog park, off-leash for the first time ever and threw the tennis balls (a few to him, but mostly pop-up's to the boys).

Days like this help put it all in perspective. After all, Jeter is still the starting shortstop for the Yankees. He'll make the All-Star team again this year. He'll get his 3,000th hit. He is a sure fire, first ballot, Hall-Of-Famer. Then there's the millions and millions of dollars and the fact that he IS dating Minka Kelly after all. So, things could be worse, I could be A-Rod......

Third Times a Charm

We took the boat out for the first time of the season yesterday.... and there was no fire, no white smoke, it started the first time, and we got it in and out of the water without any drama!! I think I had a smile ear-to-ear the entire time we were out, even though it was FREEZING cold and we were bundled up in sweatshirts and wished we had winter hats on! Every winter Brian and I start to wonder if the boat was worth it- only being able to use it 3 months out of every year- and then we take it out for the first time and we remember why we bought it. We are hoping to go out for a few "Happy Hour" trips in the next few weeks, and also an overnight on Lucky Peak in July. We had so much fun, despite the frosty conditions, and we can't wait to spend the summer weekends on the lake!

Jackson Comes Home

We finally got Jackson back on Thursday evening. He is a changed dog! We are both so impressed with the training he received and how easily we were able to transfer the training into our home with all of our distractions. The kids can once again swing outside, play baseball, and dance to their hearts content without worry of the dog getting in their way. When people come to our door we no longer have to play blocking defense to avoid him getting through out legs and out into the street. He is such a good boy now!!

Our house is so much more peaceful. At night, when we are lying on the couch reading or watching TV and Jackson wants to play ball we are no longer held hostage by his incessant ball rolling, barking, pawing, jumping on the couch, etc... We simply play until we are tired of it, then "place" him in his bed. We push a button on his electronic collar and say the command and he follows it!! It is a miracle! In fact, he spent Saturday morning with us outside while we had the community garage sale going on. He didn't bark, didn't try to visit with any of our customers or try to run away down the street. It was almost eerie!

The company is called Sit Means Sit and we would recommend it to anyone that wants a well trained dog without the many hours/hassle it is to do it themselves. The "boot camp" came with a lifetime "guarantee" and as many continuation lessons that we need. It's not cheap, but since we plan to have Jackson for the long haul it was worth every dime (even if it does mean that our next tropical vacation is an extra year off now!)

Now that Baseball Season is Over.....

....it's time to dive into football season.

Jake spent the last two weekends in some pretty high profile football camps. Weekend before last he went to the Gridiron Dreams football camp at Bishop Kelly High School. This camp is put on by a group of former Boise State Players, many of whom play in the NFL now. Jake had to sleep in his own room for 7 nights to earn this one and got it done just under the wire in order to attend. It was a one day camp and pretty expensive as well, but we were pretty desperate to have our bedroom back also.

This last weekend, he did the Boise State Broncos Football camp. He did this one last year and really enjoyed it. It's a really good camp that features motivation talks from the head coach at the end of each day on respect, fair play, paying attention, doing things the right way etc. It's a huge camp (400 kids) and they get to play on the blue turf and in the practice dome which is huge.

Both camps are good and Jake benefits from the

exposure, not so much from the football drills, but from the lessons on how important the fundamentals are, how having the right focus and attitude is crucial to success and good sportsmanship that both of the camps stressed. He did good in all of the football work also. He loves football, loves playing it, talking about it, and watching it. He had a great time talking to the players, getting autographs and taking photos.

Optimist Football starts here at the beginning of August and Jake is already raring to go.

Raising a Girl

Recently Faith has been in to cheerleading. Whenever we have sports on TV (which is often in our household) she takes out her "cheerleads" (pompoms) and does her little dance routine. Yesterday when Tanner had a friend over and they were playing football in the back yard she got out her "cheerleads" and went outside to cheer for them. Cute, yes, but also kind of disturbing to me.

She is just starting to develop real interests and has expressed a desire in taking different classes: soccer, dance, tball, gymnastics, etc... It changes everyday! At this point she doesn't realize that there actually are cheerleading opportunities for four year old girls here (a slight shudder just went through my whole body as I typed that) and this is because I refuse to tell her about them or give her the opportunity to join these "teams". Brian feels I am being unfair to her, that I should present her with all the options and let her choose which she wants to do- but I think that what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

I have a huge problem with little girls cheerleading. I don't want my daughter to grow up cheering for boys in skimpy little outfits. I want her to be the one others are cheering for!! Is this wrong??? When she is older and has tried lots of interests, if she still really wants to cheerlead, well... then it will be a conversation she and I will have together. But for now? I am keeping her as far away from organized cheerleading as I realistically can.

Tanner's Tball Season Wrap Up

Tanner's Tball party the other night finished off his first season of baseball (well any organized sport actually). He had a great time and it was a great season all the way around, without any of the drama of Jake's season.

This is the 3rd year that I have coached T-Ball and this team was entirely different from the first two years. Normally one of the first things that you have to do is diffuse the "mob" mentality of everyone running to the ball no matter where it is hit. I got pretty creative about it in the past and came up with a game we played called "freeze baseball". I would hit the ball and blow a whistle and all the kids would freeze in place. Then we would talk about who should get the ball, why and what they should do with it when they had it. Then I would blow the whistle again and we would finish the play. I was pretty proud of my creativity given my lack of coaching experience and was all ready to do that again this year. The first time we tried it, I hit the ball and no one moved to get it. Everyone held their positions like they should have (including the kid who was supposed to get the ball). So it was an entirely different ball game this season from day one.

The kids were great, most of them paid attention, as much as you would expect at this level

anyway. Even Tanner ended up picking daisies

every once in a while. We played the league directors team the last game of the season and she made a point of stopping me in the parking lot after the game and saying how great and attentive that our boys were and that we were the best team she played all season which made me feel good.

They made a couple of rule changes this year that made the season a lot more fun also. After the first couple weeks, we were allowed to throw three pitches to the kids to hit. If they didn't hit them then they hit off the tee. This made the game a lot more fun for the kids on the team that were able to hit, like Tanner. By the end of the season, he was regularly belting them into the outfield. Otherwise it is still an "everybody hits, everybody scores, no stats, no score" league which is a blast.

Also, since there are no standings, the "everyone gets a trophy" thing is easier since every team finishes in 1st place. Tanner got his 1st trophy and is so proud of it sitting on the headboard of his bed. The parent group for this team was great as well. Coaching T-Ball is such a group thing as you have several parents in the field both on offense and defense, a parent pitching and a couple of parents manning the bench (as well as the all important snack parents for each game), and I always had plenty of help and everyone was really appreciative.

All in all it was a great 1st season and Tanner grew a lot skill wise over the course of the year. Here is his highlight video (Hey he's gonna need to got to college too!).

Congrats on a great season slugger. Can't wait for next year!

Jake's Minor League Season

Jake just finshed up his first season of kid pitch (AA here). It was such a season of transitions in so many ways, it hard to kind of sum it up into a nice wrap up post, but I'm going to give it a shot. Jake loves baseball so much and has always enjoyed playing it. He has always picked it up naturally, and although we play/workout a lot with Tanner just goofing around, I don't really teach him a lot. My own experience is limited and I am more concerned about him finding his own way and just helping here and there as he asks. The way I figure it if you watch any given baseball team of 25 guys there are 25 different ways to hit and 25 different ways to throw. So if he's comfortable and his coaches don't need to change anything, I don't need to either.

Jake went into this season a little aprehensive about kid pitch. He didn't really think he wanted to pitch and was concerned about getting hit by a pitch. He quickly got over his fear of being hit, after he got hit in the first game and realized it hurts but only for a minute or two. Some of the kids on his team never got over it and were stepping outside the box all year before they swung.

He also quickly realized he liked pitching. He started the season wanting to play catcher, but when his coach realized he was one of the few kids on the team who could field, throw and catch on a regular basis, he moved him to other positions. His coach explained to him that eventhough he wanted to catch, he could do more to help the team if he played some of the more critical positions. Jake moved and had a great attitude about it. He played shortstop and 2nd base at the start of the season and then moved to pitcher and 1st mid way thru the year. He did great at all of them, making a bunch of infield plays and pitching really well.

He hurt his arm midway thru the season and had to miss four weeks. I was really proud of the way he hung in there. He dressed and went to every game. He coached 1st base, managed the bench and kept the lineup for his coach. He cheered for his team and was really upbeat about it for the most part. I was even more proud by how much of a team player he was when he came back.

His team was playing the Padres (they eventually went to the championship game) for playoff seeding one of the

last games of the season. He got cleared to play by the Doctor right before the game and showed up and played first base and pitched. He realized in his first at bat, that he couldn't swing the bat without his shoulder hurting, but stood in there and did his best for the entire game. Before the next game he asked me to teach him to bunt, which I did and he laid one down in the first round of the playoffs, beating it out for a single (and because this is kid pitch, a double on the subsequent throwing error).

His team lost to the same Padres team in the semi final game. Jake pitched two shutout innings and made two outs in the field, but they just weren't hitting and ended up losing. We're going to watch the championship game on Tuesday with some of the boys from the team.

The kids were great. The parents not so much. I assistant coached all year with a friend of mine as the head coach since I was coaching TBall as well. It was the first year for most of the boys where scores and standing were kept, and the league was very clear that this was competitive baseball and that the objective was to win games. We were very clear about that with the parent group, but still played everyone everywhere all season long. Whoever wanted to pitch, pitched and everyone played where they wanted to. We finished the season at 7-4. Before the year end tournament, which was a single game elmination, we sent out an email say that we were going to play the best players where they could do the most good and would rotate everyone else in the other positions. That got us through the 1st innning before a couple of the dads starting yelling at us from the stands about playing time. I ended up talking to both of them during and after the game several times and got it straightend out, but man, I get where the Little League Dad stereotype comes from.

We also had a WWIII level

confrontation about "everyone gets a trophy" which I thought we killed for awhile, but rose back up the day before the last game and once again, "everyone got a trophy" for 4th place. Jeez.

Next year Jake will try out for AAA and hopefully will play up if he is chosen and a lot of those issues will hopefully go away. The kids that move up, want to play, want to win and concentrate on the game (unlike at this level for a lot of them). The kids that don't won't play AAA, so hopefully it was just a perfect storm kind of year. I don't know that I'm willing to coach the same group of kids (and parents) again.

Click here for Jake's 2011 season highlight video. I made it just for fun (and submission to the Notre Dame Athletic Department eventually)...whatever....I'm a proud Dad. Sue me.

Big Man on Campus

Tanner has all of the sudden grown up before our eyes. It of course was a slow process, but it kind of took Marisa and I by surprise lately. He has really grown into himself over the course of his pre-k year. We were concerned last year as he was very quiet and shy, hiding when friends came over, not speaking up in groups and not really playing with other boys in pre-school. That all changed this year.

He is now very confident, shares in class and has really blossomed in school. He still has a shy streak that comes out every once in a while, but has a group of best buddies at school and a best friend (Evan) that he plays with all of the time. He had a great baseball season (I'll share more about that later) and got along really well with all his friends on the team.

To top all that change off, he graduated from pre-school the other night and is now a full fleged kindergartener. We can't believe that he will be going to school with Jake in the fall. He is so excited for this transition though. He will be in all day kindergarten, with Jake's same kindergarten teacher, Ms. Schubert. They made a field trip to the big school last week and Tanner got to go to PE with Mr. Perotto and meet Ms. Schubert, he wore his kindergarten shirt and is very proud of himself.

Just to top it off, he went into his "too

big" bin this morning and got out some jeans and shoes that Jake just grew out of and insisted on wearing them to his pizza party today for his last day of pre-school.

Next year it's just Faith at the little red school house next door, then she's off too. While that does mean that we will be getting almost an entire mortgage payment back each month in childcare expenses, it does make me a little misty watching the days go by so fast.

Jackson Goes to Boot Camp

We''ve been realizing over the last few weeks that in dealing with Jake's issues our "fourth child" has gotten a little out of control. Jackson is a puppy but I think we were in denial that Jackson is actually not a good puppy. He jumps on people. He barks. He nips at kids in the house. He runs into the street. He bugs you incessantly with the ball. He thinks he is a lap dog and doesn't take "no" for an answer. He chews the kids toys. He even ate a pizza off our kitchen counter. No, Jackson is not a "good puppy".

Now that things have calmed down some in the Alan household we decided that something must be done. Enter the "Sit Means Sit" people. They came for an hour last night to meet Jackson and give us some options for training. They ended up taking our boy away in the "paddy wagon". We decided to bite the bullet and pay for the training camp. 10 days of training at the owner's house, then four follow up lessons in our home with lifetime follow up as needed. It's an investment for sure (mom actually gasped at the price) but we figure if we are going to have a dog for the long haul (possibly until Jake leaves home) we want it to be one that is well behaved and one that adds fun and love to our household not more chaos. So, Jackson is at bootcamp. We will be getting videos of his progress every day or two from the owner and trainers.

The house feels empty today but we hope that when Jackson returns we will be able to have guests over without fear of embarrassment. We hope the kids will once again be able to play outside on the swings and with their balls in peace. We hope that we will be able to have Jackson out front with us to enjoy the summer weather. So, good luck to our puppy. Sorry for the tough love, Buddy, but it's for your own good!

PS. As the person who formats and posts this to the blog, I have ad hoc final editorial say, and would like to rebutt. Jackson is a good puppy, it just that he's just a puppy and a puppy with no training to boot. I spent a lot of money to get Milo trained as well for the same reasons (I didn't have time) and it still ranks as some of the best money I have ever spent. Unlike Marisa I have bonded with Jax and miss him and will be happy when he comes home.

Mothers' Day

It has been way too long since I have posted- and it is certainly not because life has been too dull to write about! Spring is sort of here: It was 84 on Friday and snowed on Monday. Very odd weather but I have been able to have the top down on the car several times and finally put away my winter clothes and swapped them out for my shorts and tank tops.

Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary came to visit a few weeks ago so they could watch the boys play baseball/tball. It was a great visit and my only complaint is that it was TOO SHORT. The kids and I picked them up on Saturday afternoon and the rest of the day was consumed with Old Maid and Crazy 8's. Sunday was Mother's Day and it was such a treat to not only have my mom here, but also my MIL and Aunt-in-Law. I was spoiled rotten by the kids- they were so excited by allthe cards and gifts they had made for me, as well as the gifts they picked out (several good books and a new pair of summer jammies ). We had doughnuts for breakfast and had a lazy day at home- which for me included an afternoon nap and reading time. The big event of the day was our dinner at Sakura- a place very similar to Benihana. We took all three "moms" there and all the kids. We shared a big table and the kids were fascinated by the chef. He was great. He juggled knives and caught eggs and salt and pepper shakers in his hat. He cut up an onion and made it into a volcano. He cut up shrimp and tossed it in the air to us each one by one so we could try to catch it. It was a really fun night. Then it was time for some Mother's Day Dessert (My new favorite: Dairy Queen ice cream cake).

The kids had ball games both Monday and Tuesday night so we headed down to those. Unfortunately Jake couldn't play in his game due to his injured shoulder, but we went and supported the team anyway. Tanner loved playing for his audience. He beamed each time he got the ball or got a hit. He really loves the game and it is so fun to see his eyes light up when he plays. It was actually a great game with lots of action. Brian was also really glad that his mom and aunt could see him in the coaching role that he loves so much.

We had lots of good talks while they were here and Jake was on best behavior. Actually, speaking of Jake, he has been doing so much better in the last two weeks overall. Things got worse (way worse) unfortunately before they got better but now we are definitely on the track to peace in our home and sleep at night. Anxiety stinks and I feel badly that he has it on both sides of the family and that it will probably be something he deals with on some level for his whole life. But luckily there are medications to help with anxiety and since he has started taking the right dose he is like another kid (well, he's still my same sweet boy, but without the crazy fears and out-of-control fits!). It was not a decision we made lightly and we are of course combining the meds with therapy but I think judging from the progress we have seen that it was the right decision. A huge thank you to those that offered me advice, a listening ear, and comforting emails during the last few months. It has not been easy.

Tanner has his last two games of Tball and preschool graduation next week. Jake has his school carnival, baseball playoffs, and his last day of school coming up. Brian and I have a night away (thanks, Mom!), several business trips coming up, as well as lots of fun boating, camping, and vacations planned.

Easter '11

Jake finally asked. I knew the day was coming but I still wasn't prepared for it:

"Mom, tell me the truth: Is the Easter Bunny real?"

Gulp.

"Well, what do you think?" (stalling)

"I don't really think a giant bunny can hop from house to house all over the world. Seriously Mom, tell me the truth. Is it you and dad that hide the eggs?"

I am not a huge fan of Easter myself. And for some reason the Easter Bunny isn't nearly as sacred to me as Santa so I came clean. The look of disappointment on his face when I answered his question was so sad but he quickly

got over it. However, I knew it was only a matter of time before more questions surfaced - this time concerning the plausability of a fat man in a red suit flying through the air in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

Double gulp.

Yep, not two days later we were driving alone in the car when he asked me, "Mom, tell me the truth: Is Santa Claus real?"

"Well, what do you think?" (stalling and trying not to panic)

"Mom, come on, don't lie to me. Do you and Dad put things in our stockings?"

"Yeah, you know that. We always put stuff in the stockings." (stalling... stalling...)

"OK, but does anyone BESIDES you put stuff in the stockings?"

"Yes" - (Thinking to myself, I am not lying. Sometimes dad or grandmas put stuff in stockings. Is being evasive the same as lying???)

"OK but does SANTA put things in the stockings? Is Santa real? Do you believe in Santa?"

Long pause. (THINK, THINK, THINK. Why don't they teach you about these moments in parenting school?)

"Jake, Santa exists in my heart and you can decide on your own if you believe in him" (oh,

yeah... that's brilliant, Mom!)

He wasn't quite satisfied with that answer but after asking the same question several more times and getting the same answer, he turned on the iPod and found his new favorite song to blast.

OK. So I chickened out- took the easy way out. But I am not ready for these questions. And I am definitely not ready for my baby to not believe in Santa.

Tanner Plays Ball

Tanner was so excited for his first t-ball game. All weekend he was reminding us that he played on Monday night (as if we could forget with Brian coaching!). When the day came we worried the game might be cancelled as it rained hard all morning. But by noon the skies had cleared and we even saw some sunshine and blue skies.

After all these years of getting to watch Jake play games it was finally Tanner's turn to play instead of just be a fan. He has spent so much time practicing in the backyard and on the Green with his dad and big brother (and sometimes his sister who plays outfield and pretends to be a "fairy" who flies to wherever the ball lands). When asked what his favorite thing to do is, he answers, "Play ball!".

He was a stud! Seriously, that kid's got talent. His stance is perfect- almost funny to watch as it is

so clear he is imitating the pros. His swing is right on. He can catch high fly balls. And he's got an ARM on him. He has obviously watched a lot of sports on TV and has benefitted from the years of watching Jake's teams play. He played first base in the first inning and made two plays there. His friend Evan was on the pitchers mound and those two play together at least twice a week so they had it down. He knows just where to stand and just where he needs to be when the ball is hit. He obviously gets so much joy out of playing the game.

It is so funny to watch these little guys play. Bless Brian for coaching. He is so patient and positive with the kids- even the ones that clearly have never seen a baseball game in their lives and have no clue how to throw or how to pay attention for that matter! They look so small out there on the field. I love how everyone gets to hit and there are no outs and everyone gets to run the bases until they "come home".

Such a difference from kid pitch (which Jake is playing this year). Suddenly the competition is on

and winning matters (at least to the players and coaches) and kids are aware of their individual performance. Ugh. I love it but it also terrifies me watching Jake and wanting so much for him to succeed because I know how much it means to him. So... the innocence of t-ball is so great.

Last night's game was too long by half an hour- all the kids were fidgety by the end- and it was COLD outside (everyone was bundled in hoodies, coats, wool hats, and gloves, not to mention blankets!) but it was so much fun to watch my boy in his element. My Tan Man. He was so happy and so excited to be there, clearly proud of himself and hamming it up in the outfield in the 2nd. Yes, this is one proud Mama.

Turning the Double Play

Yesterday was Opening Day for the North Boise Little League. For the first time, both Tanner and Jake are playing, so we weren't able to hit the Opening Day festivities AND the Hidden Springs Easter Egg hunt. Bye Bye Easter Bunny. Jake's team pictures were in the morning and Tanner's were in the afternoon, and since I am Assistant Coaching Jake's team and Managing Tanner'e team, that meant we were at the ballfield all day long.

In typical Boise spring fashion, it was alternately, cold with rain/snow and warm with sun over the course of the day, so we had to bring a truckload of equipment, jackets, sweatshirts etc. We hauled ourselves around two circuits of photos, the running the bases station, the pitching station, the obstacle course and the hitting station. We started about 10:30 in the morning and finished about 3:30 in the afternoon.

All the kids, including both of our boys had a really good time. Jake threw the fastest on his team, which is cool since he is the smallest kid. Tanner threw second hardest on his team and did great in the hitting station. The T-Ball kids are great, but the attention span isn't really there, by the time we got to the hitting station, there were only three kids left to hit.

Games for Jake start this week, Tanner has one more week of practice before he starts games, but our schedule is beyond crazy trying to keep up with both boys schedules as well as therapy appointments and work schedules. Tanner's team has practice on Monday and Wednesday. Jake's team has had practice on Tuesday and Thursday until now. This week he has games on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. We both know this is the beginning of a new level of craziness that will go on, depending on the season for the next 18 years or so, when all three kids are involved in sports or something else.

So far, Marisa and I still remember

each others names when we pass in the night, but I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to even say that at this rate. But as I have explained to her, when it gets to be too much. "You better be able to embrace the insanity, because you'll never make it thru otherwise". Enjoy the process, even if the process is slowly driving you stark raving mad. But in the short term, GO ROCKIES (Jake) and GO YANKEES (Tanner)!

Basketball Heaven

Jake and I took our trip to California last weekend (his birthday present from us and Auntie Sue) and it was even better than either of us had anticipated- and we were both pretty excited to begin with! The idea was that Jake would spend the weekend with his Auntie Sue, while I hung out with old friends. It was just what the doctor ordered- for both of us. Jake needed the one-on-one attention with one of his most favorite people in the world while I really needed to reconnect with old friends and have some time to myself after March being so difficult.

It was really fun to travel with just Jake- easy and low key. We played lots of games of Wordle on the way there, each of us had a good book to read, and it was fun to have the "alone" time together. I started my festivities an hour after landing by meeting some old friends from my Sycamore days for Happy Hour- just like old times. Some of the people there I hadn't seen since I had moved, five years ago! It was so much fun to catch up on everyone's lives- some had become Grandmas, others had several children marry or get engaged, one had retired. I felt like no time had passed. It was fun to catch up on "Sycamore Gossip" and just hang out. After Happy Hour Lisa and I went to dinner and got to spend a little more time together. I miss my friends!!

Jake had a great evening playing Old Maid (and winning prizes, of course), building forts in the garage, and watching a movie with Auntie Sue. I was spoiled with a Peets card to use during my visit, as well as some of my favorite Sees candies. We both needed the TLC and appreciated the thoughfulness so much.

The next day we were up bright and early (530AM) as Uncle Eric was picking Jake up to spend the day with him. Eric is equipment manager for the Warriors so he and Jake spent the day together at the Warriors practice facility- Jake got to meet the players, get autographs, see the training room, have a made-to-order breakfast by the team's chef,...even shoot some hoops with a player or two. Uncle Eric gave Jake so many Warriors goodies- tshirts, sweatshirts, workout gear, hats, and two b-balls. They were gone from 7AM until almost 6PM. Jake was so excited when he got home. He even has a picture of himself with his favorite player, Steph Curry.

While Jake was in basketball heaven, I was visiting with more friends. I had a several hour coffee break with Sheila in the morning, then headed to Livermore to check out the town. Lots had changed since we moved, but it still felt so familiar. It was fun to just hang out there for a few hours. Later that afternoon I met up with Shannon for drinks/dinner and lots of conversation! Again... I miss my friends! It was great to see Sheila and Shannon without any of the kids around! On Sunday I headed to San Jose to spend the morning/afternoon with Kim. We had a great afternoon together in downtown Los Altos. Again, without the kids... (Are you seeing a theme here??).

On Sunday Jake hung out with Auntie Sue (recuperating from the long day before) and got ready for the Warriors game. He and Mona and Auntie Sue celebrated his birthday before going (ice cream cake and all!) then headed to Oakland. Jake saw lots of people he "knew" from the day before and even got to go in the locker room during halftime. The players remembered his name and high fived him and stuff, which was very cool. He came home that night with even more Warriors loot from Uncle Eric, including a Steph Curry jersey.

It was a really great trip for both of us. It was so special for Jake to have the time with his Uncle Eric, Mona, and Auntie Sue (and the Warriors!) and for me to spend time with my friends and sister. I definitely want to make the trip more often in the coming years.

Jake Turns 8

Despite the challenges we have been facing and lack of sleep that has ensued, we managed to pull off a fun family birthday on March 17th for Jake. It was a school day so he brought treats to his class and said he had a great day. He was so happy that so many people wished him happy birthday- including special teachers.

He went to dinner with Brian at Chili's (his choice) and had his favorite meal: bacon cheeseburger and fries. Yep, he is a chip off the old block. After dinner he met Nana, the little kids and me at the Merc and opened his presents and picked out dessert. Brian and I gave him a trip to CA to spend the weekend with his Auntie Sue (next weekend) so he didn't have many presents to open. Mom gave him the one present he really wanted: a football wrist band play bracelet like the guys in the NFL use. After the festivities he played outside with a bunch of his friends until bedtime.

His friend birthday party was this Sunday. He had his friend Sean spend the night on Saturday, then his party began at noon. Many months ago I had purchased an hour with Games2u (a mobile video game truck/trailer) at a school auction. His friends and he played Madden 11, Monster Truck, and car racing inside the multi-level four-screen gaming area (complete with a fog machine and surround sound) while Faith played Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band outside with the guys who run the truck.

The boys all played football later in the party with

Brian acting as full time QB and Tanner as the ref. He is so hard to buy for so most of his friends got him gift cards to sporting good stores, one friend brought him a new football, another bought him football trading cards and "gator gum". I guess his friends really know him! It was a long day but I think everyone had a great time.

Year 4 of a football themed party: Done.

End of Our Rope

We've always made an effort to make this blog as "real" and authentic as possible. We don't want it to be revisionist history or some pollyanna view of our happy family life. I think we've done a pretty good job documenting the good the bad and the ugly over the course of going on 6 years. That being said, we're going thru a pretty good run of ugly right now.

Anyone who has been reading this for any length of time is probably aware that Jake has had sleep issues his entire life. If not just go back and search if you're interested, otherwise take my word for it. And not just sleep issues, but massive, WWIII level issues that have come and gone in severity over the course of his life. They have been difficult to deal with at the time, but we have never chalked it up to more than just, "well he's a kid and it's just a stage". We're beginning to think we've been really, really wrong about that.

About six weeks or so ago, the sleep problems began to manifest themselves in a new way. The issues with going to sleep and staying asleep came back, along with fears of being alone, walking to school by himself etc. He has never been a kid who has been able to watch scary movies, being easily frightened, but again we never really put two and two together. All of the sudden, we couldn't read books with tension in them, not scary stuff even per se, just dramatic tension. For example, in a baseball book we're reading right now, some guys showed up at the sandlot looking to develop the land, surveyors, not spies or hired killers, but SURVEYORS, and that got him all freaked out so that we stopped reading that book.

This coincided with a note home from the counselor at school giving us a heads up that Jake got really scared during the "stranger danger" presentation that she had given. He started refusing to walk to school by himself, afraid he was going to be grabbed and kidnapped. For those who have never been here, we can see the school from our house (it's three blocks) and can watch him walking 95% of the way there. He was terrified after that of being alone. Wouldn't go upstairs by himself, wouldn't walk to the library (closer than the school by 1/2) and of course bedtime and sleeping thru the night was out of the question.

We decided that we would have him skip the "gun safety" presentation (welcome to Idaho!). And he asked us if he could skip the "internet safety" presentation as well. He could verbalize (he didn't like to, but he could) that he was afraid of being kidnapped. We explained that it was a safe area, that kidnapping was a VERY rare occurrence etc. But this extended into his bedroom at night as well. He was afraid that people were going to break in and take him. We tried to show him all the doors and windows were locked, the lights were on, that he was in the room with his brother, that Mom and Dad were in the house (I actually sleep closer to him than Tanner does), that we have a dog in the house etc. but nothing made a difference. Once we realized how irrational this fear was, we decided we needed to get some help.

We took Jake to see a children/family therapist. Marisa and I met with her once and described what was going on, his past history, the triggers and the effect it was having on our family to her. She made an appointment to talk to Jake, but to my surprise, in our first session, she brought up that it sounded like a possibly anxiety disorder and that medication might be necessary. At this point, I was still in denial about needing medication. But she saw Jake and talked to him once before our trip to Hawaii, and has seen him several times since.

In Hawaii, our vacation rental was broken into. Talk about horrible timing. Police officers at the house, Mom's and Dad's making sure the house was locked up tight at night, and the conversation that ensued, didn't make things any better, so the kids all slept on the floor in our room for the rest of the trip. No one really lost it or acted out, but it was just easier to move them in with us.

Well, since we have been home, things have continued to get worse. Now, not only is bedtime rough for Jake and us, but he has started talking his brother in to calling out for him (as we are losing patience) and is trying to bribe Tanner into staying awake with him. Tanner told us this (we were concerned that it would start to happen so we talked to Tanner about it a while ago) and we talked to Jake to put a stop to it. Now once Tanner falls asleep, Jake leaves his room and runs downstairs, refusing to be upstairs alone (the only one awake anyway) he refuse to go to his room until we go upstairs with him as well. So lately we have been held prisoner in our room at night to get him to fall asleep. We then get to sleep until about 11:00 or so, when he wakes up and calls out for us. At that point we have the option to fight with him and wake the rest of the house (and possibly our neighbors) up (this is NOT hyperbole, I thought the cops were going to come, he was banging on his door so hard and screaming so loud) or go sleep with him in the guest room. As a result, we haven't gotten a full nights sleep, nor slept in the same bed for weeks.

At the therapists advice, we took him to see his pediatrician Monday. His Dr. is wonderful, both with him and with us. He took it very seriously, ordered blood work (which all came back fine) and stated that he thought it was a general anxiety disorder and probably would require medication as well. He has referred us to a Child Psychiatrist who we are waiting to see.

In the meantime, we can't sleep, we're depressed and we're worried. About Jake, about the little kids and the effect it's having on them, about sleeping, about bedtime, about being horrible parents who have no patience, about our marriage and our sanity.

There you go, a healthy dose of the "ugly".

Faithy Turns 4!

We put out her presents on Friday while she was at school, which led to her running back and forth we she got home, screaming, "I can't wait! I can't wait!". All week leading up and all day Saturday, all she could talk about was her "Happy Birthday" and what she hoped that each person had gotten her.

This week in school, it was also her turn to be "special person". She and Marisa (more Marisa than Faith) did her poster board and we got to go into her class and watch her present it. She pointed to all of the photos and explained who each person was and what she was doing with them. Her class and teacher then sang her the special person song and she got to excuse her classmates all one by one. She also got to take home the class Teddy Bear "Calvin" for the week. Calvin has been to our house before, but each time the children get him, he is supposed to accompany that person for the week and you complete a photo pages of what you did with Calvin when you were the special person. The photo album goes with Calvin to each home. It's pretty cool to see all of the places that Calvin has been.

Calvin went out with us on Saturday night to pizza with some friends. After dinner we stopped on the way home and got donuts for Faith's "Birthday Breakfast". Sunday morning Faith got up, had her donuts and then opened her presents. She got a couple of new "guys" a stuffed dog and bunny that she just loved, a new game which we played as soon as presents were done, some very pretty new clothes and new"ballerina stuff" and dance lessons from her Auntie Sue. She immediately changed into her ballerina clothes and we put in the ballerina lessons CD and she proceeded to dance around the living room to the music.

After the presents, we went to an indoor play area here called "Monkey Business". Faith had requested that she go there for her party. The guests that she wanted to invite were Tanner and Jake. So the three of them played in the obstacle course, bouncy house and giant slide for the next hour or so. We then went out and got lunch, ran some errands (the included picking up the Princess cake) and came back home.

After dinner and cake, which the kids liked less than the "idea" of cake. We had a movie night and watched "Alpha and Omega". After that it was off to bed for our exhausted and very happy four year old girl.