Tanner's New Shoes

Tanner has a bad habit of leaving his shoes wherever he happens to be when he takes them off: the middle of the kitchen, at the foot of the toilet, on the couch..... you get the idea. We reminded him and cajoled him to put them where they go- in the basket by the door- but he simply did not do it on his own without us forcing him to. Then, last week,we were at the shoe store buying shoes for Jake (who is growing out of things faster than we can buy them) and Tanner found a pair of "tie shoes" that he really wanted. So we made a deal: We would buy the shoes but he was not going to be allowed to wear them until he put his shoes away ON HIS OWN for 7 days.

I guess our middle child is really motivated by footwear because that's all it took. He came home from the shoe store and immediately asked me to make a chart that showed 7 days so he could cross off each day that he put his shoes in the right basket. Without fail that week he came home, took his shoes off, put them in the basket, and then crossed off the appropriate day of the week on the chart, always telling us how many days he had left until he could have his new shoes. He was so excited on Saturday when he woke up and was allowed to wear his new shoes. He was so proud of himself that we just had to take this picture. Now he puts his shoes where they go everyday without being asked. Of course, he knows that if he leaves them out, he loses them for the day, so that might be part of the continued motivation!

Then and Now

Jake has always been a sensitive boy and several things have happened recently that have reminded me just how tender hearted he really is. A few weekends ago Miss Wendy's dog had to be put to sleep. When I dropped the kids at daycare she took me aside (Jake was with me) and let me know that their 13 year old dog had several seizures over the weekend and her fiance, Travis, had decided that it was time. This was a much loved pet and they were both really sad and she wanted to know if it was OK for her to tell Tanner and Faith the truth. Yes, I said, they could tell the kids that Lexie had died- we are not big believers in the "Lexie went to live on a farm" method. Jake and I got back in the car and his eyes were filled with tears. He said, "Mom, isn't Milo 13 years old?". Uh-oh. Thus began the conversation about the likelihood of Milo passing on in the next few years. Even though he knew Milo was old, he was so sad to hear it confirmed, and I swear, since that time, has been paying more attention to Milo than ever before. He has asked to see pictures of Milo with him as a baby and is really protective of him. If, heaven forbid, I raise my voice at Milo (say when he follows me into my small closet and I trip over him trying to reach my sock drawer) Jake rises to his defense immediately.

Here is a recent picture of the two of them together, next to one of the first pictures of them together. Another reminder that time goes too fast....

Bob

One of the greatest inventions of the modern age perhaps: Bob. It is a device you plug into the TV or video game console that you can program for a certain amount of time per day for each of your children. Each child has a code that they have to use before the device will turn on (we plugged it into the Wii) and Bob automatically shuts down the system after the alloted time is over. No negotiating, no whining.... It is truly a great invention. We just got it this week because even with best intentions of limiting "screen time" we are not so good at monitoring it. We tell them a half hour, but then get busy doing something else (usually work in the AM and dinner prep in the PM) and the half hour quickly turns into 40 minutes or 45 minutes or 60 minutes. Or we are talked into "just let me finish this game of football, Mom". So now Jake gets 30 min/day, Tanner gets 15 minutes. If they choose to use it first thing in the AM or after school, it doesn't matter. Once the time is up, it's up. It's great. Wish I'd thought of that.... Welcome to our family, Bob.

Our Kids and Their Media - Jake

Jake:

I think all our regular readers know that Jake has become a football obsessed crazy person. He loves it. Pro Football, College, High School, cartoon football, you name it. He is officially better than me at Madden now and knows all of the plays and formations by heart. He memorizes the rosters and recognizes the players in the real games from his video teams. I refused to let him get into fantasy football this year, but only by promising we'd join a league together next season (I wanted him to root for the team and the game, before he learned to root for stats). He starts flag league this year and can't wait. He plays with his friends in the yard and struts like an NFL receiver when he makes a catch (I'm really hoping that his 1st coach screams at him for it or one of the other players pops him one, because I can't seem to get him to stop - and NO, I'M NOT COACHING).

Theory of a Deadman - Okay, maybe not my best parenting move, but I don't feel that a little loud, sexist rock music filled with bad language and drug/drinking references ever hurt anyone....what? Hey, I like it, he rides around with me in the car, sorry, he's gonna hear it. I have explained what it's about and what the language means, that's it's said for effect etc. Truthfully, I'm a little proud...

We just finished this Mike Lupica book which Jake just loved. It's really the first good sized chapter book he's ever sat thru. 30 something chapters and 250 ish pages are a major accomplishment for us and I'm really proud of the way he stayed into it and followed along. Now the kid in the story is a huge Patriots fan, the QB for his youth football team and get's to meet Tom Brady, so it's not like we were reading Tolstoy, but still you've got to start somewhere. The best thing is Lupica has about 100 other kids books that all revolve around sports, so I don't have to read SpongeBob anymore at bedtime (at least for Jake, Tanner is still a SB devotee).

Our Kids and Their Media - Tanner

Tanner:

So the kids are kind of into the Winter Olympics, in as much as they'll watch them if I have them on. It's not that that are unpatriotic, but they would be much more into them if Mario and Sonic were involved, because they love this game. They play everyday, and have "unlocked" all of the secret games, which they tell us with the relish that one would imagine would be reserved for curing cancer or some other such noble feat, but no we get, "Dad, guess what, we just unlocked Dream Snowboard Cross" at which point I'm supposed to congratulate them like they just graduated college or something...

Tanner loves "Family Huddle" the Manning family book. Now I'm a big football fan, and I like the Mannings, and they seem brighter than your average pro-football player, but writers they are not. Tanner loves the Mannings (see the Christmas post) and saw this book on his pre-school book order form. My advice, if you can keep it out of your house do. It's not actively bad, but it doesn't survive multiple parental readings like some other kids books can. My rule is I'll only read it once a week, and even then it's painful.

I don't know how Tanner came to develop a taste for neo-soul, but he loves "If You're Out There" by John Legend. I downloaded it after the Obama election as he wrote it specifically for that time and I loved the song, but Tanner takes it to a whole new level. He asks for it all of the time in the car and sings along with it very quietly, but very intently when it comes on. You can see that the song truly means something to him. It has better staying power than the Manning book, but I will admit that sometimes when it comes up on the display in the car I fast forward and hope he doesn't recognize the first few notes.....

Shut Up and Drive

That's the title of a Chely Wright song that we were listening to in the car a few weeks ago. Of course the kids all loved that they were allowed to sing along and therefore were allowed to say the words "Shut up" over and over again since that is the chorus. They were all eating crackers in the backseat and Brian and I were trying to have an actual conversation, so midway though the song Brian jokingly changed the words to "Shut up and Eat your Crackers" and started singing loudly with several ensuing lines of silliness. Although Jake and Tanner both thought it was funny and understood the joke, Faith didn't quite get it. She sang along with the revised lyrics and yesterday in the car asked me if I could please put "Shut up and Eat Your Crackers" on my iPod so we could hear it again.

Also on the singing front, as she and I were driving to Miss Wendy's the other day the song "Have a Little Faith" by John Hiatt came on. As always, she asked me who was singing and what the title was, then, after a brief pause, yelled from the backseat excitedly, "That's just like me..... I'm a 'little Faith' ".

One more Faith story.... yesterday as I was pushing her on the swing outside she said, apropos of nothing, "Mommy, I'm going to be too big for you to carry soon because I am a big girl now, but don't worry because I won't be too big to hug, or kiss, or talk to!". I vividly remember Jake holding my hand on the way into Miss Julie's house (his daycare up until we moved) and how he used to tell me he would "hold my hand until he was 70 and I was 100 ". I can tell the days of unabashed hand holding are coming to a close for my little man. Hard to imagine there will be a day when my little girl will not only NOT want to hold my hand, kiss me, hug me, or talk to me.... but will probably dislike me most days! Can I keep her this age forever, please???

Our Kids and Their Media - Faith

Marisa is out of town tonight so I handled bedtime. Over the course of picking up kids from school, watching them after school, driving them around and reading bedtime books, it occurred to me that our kids have some specific tastes in media right now that say a lot about where they're at in life (come to think of it, we all do). But I thought I would make a note here so I don't forget.

Faith:

She loves anything Dora the Explorer (sheets, pillows, nighties, her Dora stuffed doll that's almost as big as she is...) so it's no suprise that when she "inherited" Tanner's old Leapster, the Dora game instantly became her favorite.

If you haven't heard big ol' IZ sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World" then your life is not as bright as it could be. Download it from somewhere, burn it for a lullabye CD for your daughter and then listen to it every night as you put her to bed.

The Bob Dylan book was a gift from Auntie Sue and the book quickly became a family sing along that all of the kids love, but Faithy picked it tonight for her bedtime book.

Steelheads, Slam Dunks, and Tea Parties

We took Faith to her first hockey game on Friday night. We went with another family in our neighborhood and everyone had a blast. Fridays are "4 for 44" days with 4 tix, 4 hotdogs, and 4 drinks for just 44 dollars. How can you beat that for an evening out with the family? For those of you thinking that we are 5, not 4, you are right, but Faith is still under three so she was free.

The game was exciting and actually ended in a shootout. Unfortunately the Steelheads lost in the end, but that didn't lessen the enthusiasm. The kids didn't get to bed until after 11, and we definitely paid for it the next day with CRANKY CRANKY CRANKY children, but they were ASLEEP at 6:45 and slept past 7AM so today should be a bit easier.

We recorded the Slam Dunk Contest and are watching it this morning. I am sure there will be two boys trying to copy the moves up in their bedroom later today! They are both rooting for Nate Robinson again.

Faith and I are going to a tea party (no, not that kind....an actual tea party) this afternoon- the 1st b'day party for the daughter of a friend of mine. Should be fun. She is really excited to be going to a "girls only" party and since cupcakes are the main offering, she will be thrilled!

Activism 101

We got a notice in the mail 10 days ago that a developer had bought the land behind our house and was planning on putting a self storage facility on it, complete with RV parking (basically in our back yard). We were invited to an "informational meeting" by the developer and this is where the fun begins.

To make a long story short, Brian and I are spearheading a group of people against this storage facility and have been going door-to-door getting a petition signed, made a poster with information for residents to read, met with the Town Council, sent emails to all community members, etc... in order to show this developer that this storage facility was not wanted or needed in the community. Long, long story short: after getting over 300 signatures, the developer called Brian directly on Friday to ask him if they could meet and discuss this face-to-face. He said that he now realizes that the storage facility is a bad idea and wants our input on what would be a good use for the land behind our house. Since the land is zoned commercial there will probably be something up there, but we have lots of ideas that would be far less dangerous and ugly and much more useful for our community than a storage facility. Our top four ideas so far:

1. Turn it into a gym with space for yoga, pilates, bootcamp, indoor swimming pool, etc....

2. Turn it into a solar power farm.

3. Sell is back to community members so we can turn it into a big playground and dog park.

4. Daycare facility

Only #3 is really desirable (but unfortunately unlikely...), but the others are far safer than self storage and something we could live with.

So, this week has been very busy! Brian has amazed me with his dedication to the cause. He has been standing outside the Merc any free moment and getting signatures on the petition, has spoken to more neighbors than I think we have ever spoken to combined in our almost 4 years of life here, and has gone through the CCNR's with a fine tooth comb. For a man that truly does not like chatting it up with strangers, he has been a trooper. It has been a really good lesson for Jake- to see us work together with neighbors to "fight the powers that be". His "give back" for baseball (machine pitch this year!) was going door to door with Brian.

The meeting with the developer is this Wednesday. Wish us luck...

Gym Rats

I guess installing a full sized backboard in their room was enough to turn the boys into full fledged basketball nuts. They love to shoot hoops in their room and play NBA 2K on the Wii. As always in our house there is no shortage of balls flying around and fights breaking out over rules violations. The boys play everything from basketball to full on tackle football (usually until Tanner gets hurt...either physically or emotionally).

But with the carpet squares on the floor in the boys room we have come up with our version of "around the world" called "Squares" . Each person has a pre-set pattern of squares in a big L shape around the hoop. Mine is the farthest out, Jake's is one row in and Tanner's is the closest to the hoop. You shoot until you miss and the idea is try to finish your pattern or "square" without missing. If you make it all the way then you try to go right back in the opposite driection and complete the "super square". So far I have made a couple of regular squares, but no supersquares (it's a little bit harder to complete in my row because I have to shoot a couple underhand to get around the ceiling fan). Jake has made several regular squares and made a dent in a super square. His personal best is 15 shots in a row.

Tanner is great to watch. His best is 4 shots in a row, but if you ever see him, you would know what a feat that is. He has to shoot the ball up with every ounce of strength he has just to get it over the rim. He grunts everytime he heaves it up and then starts giggling like a crazy person when it goes through.

It's a great game for them to play (fun for me too) and something to pass the time indoors when outside is just a little too cold. It snowed here all night last night and we woke up to several inches on the ground, so there may be some more b-ball on the agenda today (at least until the Pro-Bowl starts.....).

Kid Update

Faith:

She is very into chap stick and uses it continually not just on her lips but also on her cheeks and hands. No, it is not easy to get off. She put it on this morning and said, "I'm going to wear this when I get mawwied" (that's "married" for those not into toddler speak).

She says "last day" to mean "yesterday". As in: "Last day at Miss Wendy's we played Candyland!". It is so cute I just don't want to forget it.

She is going to be flower girl at Miss Wendy's wedding in April and is very excited about walking down the aisle. I'm a little worried because she demonstrated how she plans to do it and she closed her eyes up tight and started snoring. I asked her what she was doing and she said that she intended to walk down the aisle "asleep". Hmmm. That doesn't bode well.

She absolutely adores my mom's dog, Reba. She just smothers her with hugs and kisses. She plays with her and asks mom to bring her to our house all the time. Luckly Reba is patient as Faith covers her up with blankies, puts her to sleep, etc....

She loves to read and will take a book and "read it" to herself or me by

making up the story as she looks at the pictures.

She loves to kiss me on the cheek or lips and tells me to "laugh when I kiss you, Mama, OK?" and then plants a big one on me and waits for my response.

She bounces when she is excited. Kind of like Tigger.

TANNER

He is coming into his own with friends now. He went to his first birthday party last week and although he wouldn't let me out of his sight, he had a great time and especially loved the goody bag he got to bring home. He has also been asking me for the last 10 days to invite his friend Gus over for a play date. I tried to contact Gus' mom, but never heard back and then I went out of town for work. So, tired of waiting, he decided to take matters into his own hands. When Brian picked him up that day he told him that Gus's mom had been in the classroom that day and he asked her if Gus could come over on Saturday. His mom told Tanner that she had been out of town and that was why she hadn't called back. He arranged the playdate and told Gus's mom to call me to check if it was OK. Brian and I were very proud of him!

He is really ready to read. Whenever we are driving he asks me what every sign says. He wants me to point at each word when I read to him. He has memorized the first book of Henry and Mudge and says it practically word for word and wants to "read it" to me every day. He spells everything. For example, when he wants a banana he will say, "Mom, can I have a W-A-N-D-E-E please?" Of course the letters are never right, but it is so cute that he is trying.

He is very into his ipod and recently asked Brian to add a Theory of a Deadman song onto his playlist. He also likes Kenny Chesney's "Everybody Wants to go to Heaven" and continues to be a fan of "If You're Out There". He definitely is developing diverse musical tastes!

JAKE

Brian and I decided a long time ago that we would let our kids choose how to wear their hair. It is an easy piece of control to give up without any real ramifications except that it may drive me crazy to see my son look like a skinhead or punk rocker or, currently, A LONG HAIRED HIPPIE. But overall we both think that letting them express themselves how they want to should be allowed from a young age. But, boy, Jake's hair is getting really long! We do make him trim it every once in awhile to keep the split ends manageable, but other than that he is just growing it out. Not sure his plan- does he plan to grow it to his shoulders? His butt? His ankles? Not sure, but it is pretty funny.

He, too, continues to love music. Currently he likes Nickleback and is going to the concert with Brian in May. I am not really sure of the appropriateness of this at 7 years old, but we both agree that if it is debriefed before, during, and after the event he won't be harmed by the possibly foul language he will hear (like he doesn't already hear that at home!), inebriated people he will encounter, etc.... On a funny music note, his favorite song right now is Bryan Adams "Summer of '69" and he will listen to it over and over. When he has a friend over he will put on 'It's Good to be Us" by Bucky Covington.

He had his first play date with a girl last week. He had been wanting to get together with Kate since holiday break but when the actual time came he was obviously nervous. Unfortunately it was on a Sunday and she has a 9 year old brother that was watching football, so Kate's mom had to redirect his attentions from the football game and "guy time" to playing with Kate. Still, I think he had a good time.

Resolution 2010

All Brian wanted for Christmas was exercise equipment. The little gym in our neighborhood was getting too crowded (only two treadmills) and his motivation didn't quite sustain itself through three walks in the snow to get his workout in each day. I was OK with getting the equipment, but the question was where we would put it. There were very few options. The boys room is big, but it didn't seem practical to put workout gear in there as it would limit hours we could use it. We could have taken out the guest room and just had an exercise room but that seemed like it would cause more hassle than good. In the end, the only option was our living/family room. I wasn't thrilled with the idea as this space isn't that large to begin with, but it actually has worked out great. We didn't have to get rid of any seating and I can watch TV while I run. Brian is loving it- and I have found myself much more likely to work out with it staring in me the face each day.

Only time will tell, I guess, if it will serve as a vehicle for good health or as a really expensive towel and clothes rack.

Done with Diapers

It is truly the end of an era here in the Alan household: Seven years of uninterrupted diaper use has officially come to a close.

We didn't have high hopes for Faith and the potty. She showed no interest in getting out of diapers. In fact, when she pulled a pack of big girl panties out of her Christmas stocking she looked at them disdainfully, threw them to me (at me?) and said, "I DON'T WANT THESE!". We figured we had our work cut out for us. Sure enough, Jan 1st (the target start date for Operation Done With Diapers) was spent with her peeing on everything except the potty. She would sit on it, declare that she didn't have any pee in her, then proceed to pee on the kitchen floor two minutes later. This happened all day long.

I left before dawn on Sunday for a five day trip to Pittsburgh for work, called Brian later that evening and found out that Faith was potty trained. Seriously. She got up Sunday and just decided she was done with diapers. Since then she has had two accidents at daycare, but other than that is every bit of a Big Girl. We took her to the store today to pick out her own panties (still undecided if I want to call them panties, undies, underwear, unders, or something else....) and she chose a My Little Pony package along with a pack of Dora designs. She is very proud of herself and announced today that now that she is a big girl she doesn't have to nap. Now that's a milestone I am definitely NOT ready for!

I am grateful to be done with diapers- but to be honest- a little sad that the "baby stage" of my life has ended for real. Is that weird?

Christmas 2009

After opening the traditional Christmas Eve Jammies, making a video for Papa, leaving milk/cookies/carrots out for Santa and his reindeer and cuddling together in our little family room to watch The Grinch we had a giant sleepover on Christmas Eve. Even Faith joined in the fun. The kids all bunked together in the boys' room- on our blow-up camping mattresses. Adults were exempt- until 6AM when our kids (what a shocker...) were the first ones to wake up. We kept the boys occupied with Sports Center in our bedroom for about 30 minutes and then they could wait no longer. We woke up Nana, and Auntie Lisa, Uncle John, Aunt Kim, Uncle Bill, and the rest of the cousins and headed downstairs for a "stocking free for all".

Jake got a new skateboard, Tanner got a remote control car, Faith got a Dora backpack and castle thingy with unicorns. Stockings were full of such things as receiver gloves (Jake), horse socks (guess who?), and a penguin t-shirt (Santa was lucky to find that one for Tanner). After the adults finally opened their socks, we paused for Brian to put together the aforementioned "castle thingy" (WAY more complicated than it looked on the box, BTW), the kids played with their Santa loot, and the rest of the adults made breakfast. There were pancakes and sausage, bacon by the pound, and scrambled eggs for all. The kids were getting impatient to get to Nana's house to unwrap the rest of the presents, so we headed there (still in our jammies). Tanner and Jake loved the Notre Dame hats, the Manning brothers football jerseys, and sunglasses (see picture). Faith loved her many, many, many (ad nauseum) stuffed animals, ponies, and books.

After a great day the kids were all exhausted and overwhelmed. Poor decision on our part, we let

the kids attempt another sleepover. Bad Idea. Faith fell apart BIG TIME and had a screaming fit when we removed her from the room due to her being unable to cope with the excitement (somersaults, bouncing on the bed, singing loudly.... none of these was conducive to sleep for any of her roommates). She proceeded to scream and scream and scream, then Tanner joined in. They ended up crying themselves out, then sleeping on our floor while Quincy, Jessa, and Jake ended up going to Nana's to sleep just so they could get some peace and quiet. It was past 10 by the time they all got to sleep so we were very happy when they all slept past 8 the next day. But, like Donkey says, "Christmas ain't Christmas 'til somebody cries!", so it was not unexpected that there was drama at the end of the day.

All in all a wonderful, family and love and friend filled holiday. As always, we feel truly blessed.

The Day After.......

Marisa is doing the Christmas post and I'm doing this one so the order will be messed up as she hasn't gotten to her's yet. I have a break in work, so I'm getting mine done now.

We had planned to go up to Bogus tubing with everyone on the day after Christmas, but after continuously checking the snowfall indicator up there on the internet (God love the internet!), it was obvious that they weren't going to get enough snow to open the hill. (As I type this I am watching the ATV's clear the walks in our neighborhood of the three inches we got last night, and just checked, Bogus got four + inches since closing yesterday and the tubing hill is open today). So we went online and found a new tubing hill that just opened up in Garden Valley this year.

We had seen some local cable commercials for this new hill and decided to take everyone up to check it out for the first time. It was a great time for everyone, albeit with a little drama. As it turns out, the tubing area is a marketing draw for the cabin/condo community they're trying to build up there. They make the snow and there are six runs of differing degrees of craziness with a snack shack and a yurt with a fireplace in the middle of this sub-division. There were only two of the cabins finished, but it looked like it would be a cool place if they ever get it built.

The kids all had a really good time going down runs 1&2 which were slower and didn't have any big jumps. I rode with Tanner in a double tube and he had a GREAT time in run 1, but got a little scared in run 2 so we headed to the yurt for some fire time. Jake had a loose tooth when we went up and smacked his face on his tube, knocking the tooth out, so he got a little yurt time in as well. Someone went down the run the wrong way, ate it pretty bad and ended up having to be airlifted out, so most of the runs were closed while they tended to him.

Once the runs opened back up, I announced that I was going up to try run 6. This really concerned Tanner and Jake. They both said that I was going to hurt myself and reminded me that I broke my arm last year. I explained that there was no way I was going to leave without trying #6 and if I broke my arm again, I broke my arm. It was really no big deal last year and wouldn't be again this year. You would have thought I was literally headed off to war they way they were carrying on as I headed up the tow lift. #6 was awesome (no broken bones or injuries of any sort) with a couple of big jumps where you got some serious air towards the bottom. John and I rode that one down a couple of times and then we were done.

We went into Garden Valley for lunch and then drove back to Boise, where all of the kids in our car promptly fell asleep and slept for most of the hour or so drive back to the house. All in all a great outing and one that we will do again. It's about as long a drive as it is up to Bogus.

Anyway, photo and video attached. Way better than being out shopping on the day after!

More Holiday Fun

• Tanner had his holiday program last week. They sang, played instruments, dressed in their finest (this was difficult to find in Tanner's wardrobe of football jerseys and sweatpants....) and wore Santa hats. Too cute. I was afraid that he wouldn't go up to perform, but he did great and was so proud of himself. My favorite was when they sang "Shalom" and the kids all put their arms around each other and swayed to the music. I have to admit, I got a little teary.

• Brian was putting Faith to bed the other night and she called him in because she wanted a kiss. He leaned down to kiss her and she smacked him on the lips and said, "Now we married, Daddy!" (OK.... so this story isn't holiday themed, but it was so cute I wanted to remember it so had to post it here before I forget)

• Jake had a sleepover with his friend Sean. They watched "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid. I love that my son already appreciates the joy of a good sports movie....

• Tanner had his first sleepover at Nana's house. He was so excited! He had been asking about it for weeks, so we decided to plan it for the night that Sean was sleeping over. He packed up his backpack with all his "guys" (3 monkeys, 3 penguinos), jammies, his blankie, etc... and was ready hours before Nana arrived. He kept putting on his backpack (which is nearly as big as he is) and walking around the front room with it asking when Nana would arrive. I guess they had a great time together- it is so special to me that Mom gets this one-on-one time with my kids. They all adore her and I think it will be tough on them when she goes back to Tahoe in April/May.

• Faith was no so happy about Tanner's sleepover. She kept crying for her "bruddah" and even woke up in the night asking for him (even though she has never called out for him before). When I put her to bed she was crying and said, "Tanna is NEVER coming home!" Poor thing. She can't wait to be next, though, for her chance at a sleepover in January.

• Brian and I had a great "date night". Several weeks ago we decided to get a babysitter and we used the 3 hours to get everything ready for Christmas. We packed up all of the presents, wrapping supplies, ipod, etc.... and took it to my mom's house. We made a bunch of snacks, turned on holiday music, and got everything wrapped and organized. This has definitely been the "no stress" holiday.

• I baked up a storm last Sunday. Mom and I planned to bake together but what really happened was I got several hours to bake while Mom entertained Tanner and Faith and Brian and Jake watched football! I made two kinds of Chex Mix, thumbprint cookies, toffee bars, and mexican wedding cakes. Nothing like holiday baking to get you in the Christmas spirit.

• Kim, Bill, Abby, and Aidan arrived on Tuesday night. Lisa, John, Quincy, and Jessa arrived last night. The cousins are in heaven playing together and are all sleeping together in the boys' big bedroom. Even Faith joined the sleepover last night on an air mattress on the floor.

Holiday Fever

Our annual Holiday Party at the Barn was yesterday. Tanner and Faith told me several days ago, in no uncertain terms, that they would STAND by Santa this year but would NOT SIT ON HIS LAP. It was like a deal had to be negotiated, but given their hysteria last year, I figured this was as good as it was likely to get. And, true to their word, when our turn came they walked up to him- no tears this year- and stood by him. However, once I walked Faith up there, she refused to let me leave her alone- even with her brothers. So, I was unable to extricate myself from the picture. When Santa asked them to tell him what they each wanted for Christmas, Jake told him "a guitar", Tanner said, " a coloring book" and Faith shook her head, looked down, and refused to answer. Even after he gave her a candy cane, she didn't warm to him. Still, she loved the present he gave her (a Dora puzzle) and we quickly left the party to come home and work on it together.

The excitement of the season is heightened by the weather- snow the last 3 days! We bundled up today and took the kids out for a sledding trip behind the Merc. The boys of course both loved it, and Faith was really into it this year, too. I started out having Tanner or Jake stand at the bottom of the hill to "catch" her in case she was going too fast, but she quickly decided she wanted to go further and go off the "jump" (really just a curb) at the end. Both the boys tried their hand at standing on the sled and trying to snowboard down the hill- both crashed, got up laughing, and had to have snow picked out of their eyelashes!

In addition to the morning ritual of the advent calendar, we are doing The Elf on the Shelf this year. It's a stuffed elf that comes with a cute story about an elf that stays at your house throughout the holiday season and watches if you're behaving, then flies back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa. The next morning he returns (prior to the kids waking) and hides somewhere in the house. Tanner and Faith are really into it- and even though Jake knows he doesn't really fly there each night and that we actually hide him he has liked waking up to see where he will turn up next. So far he has been on a ceiling fan, in a stocking, on the coffee maker, and even in the refrigerator. For several days he didn't fly anywhere (whoops!) and luckily the little ones were very satisfied with our explanation that it had been too snowy/cold for him to get to the North Pole those nights. I will be so sad the day my kids stop "believing".
Now that work has slowed down I am enjoying the season so much and can't wait for family to arrive to help us celebrate!

The Alan Family Christmas

Christmas Vacation is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. I empathize with Clark, always wanting to do the right thing, always trying hard, having the best of intentions, and then having everything generally go to sh*# right in front of your eyes. So I am always laughing when we have a "Griswoldian moment" around the holidays (to be fair, my lovely wife causes about 50% of these, so it's not all me).

So it was with great expectations for humor that we bundled up in the snow on Sunday and went out and found the "Alan Family Christmas Tree". Normally we end up driving around town (against my Bah-Humbug wishes) while we visit every carol-singer infested, mulled cider having, little mom and pop Christmas tree lot in town trying to find a tree. To my greater and greater level of frustration, we are usually unable to find the "perfect tree". This continues for a couple of hours or until we pass the first Home Depot, where (for the last 10 years) I pull in and find a perfect tree in about 10 minutes and bring it home. This year we made a deal, wifey could go out in advance and find one little tree lot that had a lot of "perfect trees" and we would hit that one lot. If they didn't have a tree that we liked, it was immediately off to Home Depot.

So the lot she found was literally down at the bottom of our hill, it was out of some guys garage and they had a nice fire going and plenty of great trees. So we got our tree there (no trip to Home Depot....awwww). Now, Marisa wanted a nice big tree, and I just wanted to get home, so we picked out a good one that in true Griswold fashion was about a foot too tall for our house. So after I cut off a big chunk of tree and a bunch of branches, we were good to go.

So our tree is up and decorated. It was Jake's year to put the angel up and it won't be long until he's big enough to do it without my help (again....awwwww). We had our traditional tree-setting-up dinner of pigs in a blanket, potato skins and salami and cheese. We listened to Christmas songs, the elves danced a little (as you can see). And the Christmas Spirit is alive and well at the Alan household. Now, somebody please show up in Cousin Eddies' RV for Christmas and I can die a happy man.......

Who was that masked man?

Words of warning for all of those coming to visit for Christmas.....IT'S COLD HERE!

Temps have dropped to below zero at night and are a warm and tropical 2 degrees when Tanner and I have been walking Jake to school in the mornings. So bring warm clothes if you plan on going outside.

We have had a little bit of snow that Tanner and I shoveled (he loves to shovel snow), but not a whole lot to speak of. There is snow in the forecast for both days this weekend, so we'll have to see how much shows up. But for now it's clear, beautiful and cold.

Tanners pre-school is right next to the house, so I can watch him out the window at recess. Tuesday he was going around the playground, picking up handfuls of snow, throwing it up in the air and walking under it so it came down on his head. Later when I asked him why he was doing it, he said he didn't know, and when I asked him if any of his friends were doing it he said, "no, just me". My middle boy truly dances to music that only he can hear.

So we're looking forward to seeing everyone, but be on the look-out for a masked bandit out dancing in the snow.

Y-Basketball 2009

With all of the illness this year, today was the 1st game that Marisa has been too, so these are the 1st photos we've gotten to post. Every Saturday someone has been too sick to come, so it has been just me and Jake.

Y-Ball has been great again. I had to take a bunch of extra kids from the neighborhood who were placed on another schools team, so we have a very large (12 boys) squad. The boys named us the "Green Slime" for the lovely shade of green jerseys that we got. But with that many kids, coaching has been a little bit of a challenge to make sure that the playing time is sort of equal, so I have an assistant coach who keeps them lined up in order on the bench and the ref's pause the game to let us sub in mid-quarter as well as at the end of the quarter so everyone gets to play. It's still a "no score" no stat" league, so it's just about learning and getting the skills down. Speaking of which.....

Jake is even better this year. He has a nose for the ball, has the moves and scores a couple of shots each game. This year he has focused on his defense to be more like Lebron James (I swear to God he watches more sports on TV than I do). If you don't watch a lot of NBA, Lebrons' big focus other than scoring is on shot blocks, he generally gets two or three a game, and he chases his guy down and blocks the shot from behind on the run. Now Jake thinks this is the coolest thing ever and has been working on it all season. He has actually done it twice in games now which is amazing because he usually one of the shortest guys on the floor. He has more fun blocking shots than scoring I think.

We have had a couple of "Coach/Dad" conferences as, because he watches so much NBA, he has started to preen a little bit after shots or blocks. As Coach I could let those go, but as Dad I just can't, so he's been pulled once or twice to make a point. I love coaching his teams, but it's probably good that I'm retiring after this season.

We had our pictures today, and have our last game and trophy party next week. It's a quick season, but LIttle League sign-ups are in January, it never stops around here....