Labor of Love

Our youngest child seems to take after her mother in terms of organization: she throws everything onto the floor, mixes it all together, and sees no reason to pick it up or organize it even if no one can step foot into her room. I grew out of it…(editors note. ummmmm...., I'm not so sure you did)... I know she will too. However, in the meantime, Brian and I figured we might be able to help her a bit by giving her a little more to work with in terms of places to put things. So we began our hunt for new furniture for her room. I use the term “new” very loosely as we were following Craigslist. Whatever we bought would be new to her, but not new per se. In any case, we found what looked like a perfect fit for her on Saturday. Unfortunately it was way out in Nampa- a good 45 minutes away- but we headed out there anyway and after viewing it, Faith fell in love with it, and we decided we’d come back the following day to buy it, take it apart, and lug it home. As you can see in the picture it is BIG. And it has MANY pieces. I actually had difficulty sleeping Saturday night worrying about if it would fit in our two cars and whether or not we’d have to head back out a third time in order to complete the mission. We discussed, briefly, whether it wouldn’t just be better to go find a similar bed at a local furniture store (and pay 3 times the cost) but decided that buying used teaches the kids so many good lessons: saving money, helping the environment, the pay off of hard work, the satisfaction in a job well done, etc… so we decided it made sense to devote what we knew would be a large part of the weekend to this project.

Anyway, Sunday morning we headed out again, in two cars. We left the kids in the Suburban with video games galore while Brian and I went inside the tiny house full of people. I’m not sure but it may have been a polygamous household- 6 children, two women, 1 man and many, many pets (2 dogs, 4 cats, 2 bunnies). The house stunk to high heaven. We proceeded to break the bed/desk/dresser/fort into about 50-60 smaller pieces, all of which were then lugged outside and divided between the two cars. They barely fit- each car was packed to the rim.  This part of the process took almost 2 hours.  For those of you keeping track, we were now at 1.5 hours driving time on Sat, 1.5 hours driving time on Sunday, and 2 hours to take bed apart and load it into the car. And the hard part was yet to come. 

Brian stopped at the nearest gas station to wash his hands in scalding hot water, then changed out of every last bit of clothing and threw them immediately into the washing machine. Cat pee. UGH!

We arrived back home at 1PM on Sunday and proceeded to pull each and every part out of the cars and lay them on the lawn for disinfecting. The kids and I wiped down every single piece, both sides, and sprayed them all with Lysol, prior to carrying them up, one by one, to Brian who attempted to put them all back together in the right order. Let me tell you… I had my doubts that it was possible. But we kept at it and put the puzzle back together one piece at a time. Mom arrived when we were about ¾ done and provided wine to keep my energy up (you can always count on Mom to bring the wine!). We ordered pizza partway through the process and although I sat down to take a break, Brian worked through dinner. Finally, at about 630 that evening we had the bed up and ready to go. 11 hours of labor. That’s how spent our Sunday.

However, it was all worth it. Faith LOVES her bed. There are nooks and crannies to store things in, a desk to do art on, a place to store her toys, and the bed is up high (which she thinks is the coolest thing ever).  As soon as it was put together all the way, she and Tanner set about “organizing” it.  They threw all her toys and stuffed animals into the fort under the bed, put special things on the shelves of the desk, filled the desk drawers with various items, decided where to store her underwear, socks, jammies, and tights, etc…. It was about the cutest thing to watch ever. Faith was clearly in charge and Tanner was clearly her “helper” and the way they worked together was amazing. Mom and I just stood back and let them have at it, listening in as Tanner asked for direction and Faith hemmed and hawed about where things should be placed. That night they both slept on it together (Jake was at a friend’s house for a sleepover).

Watching them work together for hours was the sweetest thing.  Brian and I went to bed exhausted but feeling pretty damn good about the work we had done as a family and the lessons that we hope were passed onto the kids through the effort.

10 going on 17

For the first time in a few years, Jakes birthday was going to be short this year. Normally the kids birthdays fall mid-week, so they have a friend birthday party on the weekend, then their real birthday party during the week on their actual birthdate. It has a tendency to become Mardi-Gras like in duration. But this year, Jake's birthday was on a Sunday, so it was all encompassed in one weekend of birthday-ness.

He had six friends over for a sleepover on Saturday night. Then we had our birthday dinner and birthday party as a family on Sunday. BOOM. Done. 

There are other ways it was different though. None of them as easy as scheduling. 

He's getting so old. It's become instant teenager around here, just add water. He's cross and scowling most of the time at home. You can see him with his friends and he's laughing and having a blast, but then he gets in the car and it's like a blast of cold air comes in with him. He argues, he sulks, he's sarcastic (yes I KNOW - that's my fault) and he spends a lot of time in his room (not his choice most of the time - I just banish him there). But it's more than just the attitude.

He would rather be almost anywhere than with us. He goes out to play with his friends and is just GONE for hours at a time. Up in the foothills, down at he creek, at his friends houses, anywhere but home. It used to be for his friend birthday party, even as recently as last year, we scheduled events and games and movies. This year we didn't do a thing. They just came over and went upstairs. The few times we went to look in on them we got an embarrassed stare, an eye roll and quiet derision until we closed the door and came back downstairs. 

There are glimpses that our real boy is still in there however. He has always been friends with a boy with Downs Syndrome at school. Really since right after we moved here. Anthony may have been one of his first friends in the neighborhood. Jake invited Anthony to his party this year, which thrilled Anthony and his parents. He couldn't stay for the sleepover part, but he had a good time at the party and left at 7:00 or so. Jake was so great with him (and always is) that you can't help but be proud of him. He instinctively knows how to interact with Anthony, doesn't talk down to him, makes sure he's doing okay and having a good time, and keeps him in check behavior wise. It really is amazing to watch and gives me hope that he'll come out of this phase and go back to the wonderful boy he was just yesterday it seems like. 

His world also has become very weirdly social, like teenage girl social. He gets in spats with his friends, they clique up on each other. He totally avoids someone for weeks at a time, then spends hours and days with that same person, them against the world, friends forever. He had a friend he was on the out's with until the day before the sleep over, then all of the sudden they were best buddies again and the party couldn't happen without Charley. So Marisa had to get involved and go through the mom to get things smoothed out and the last minute invite delivered.

It really has become quite surreal almost overnight, and the party was the perfect example. They came through the door, went upstairs, came down when we gave them food, went back upstairs and totally avoided us until it was time to leave. 

I guess it's just life and I was a teenager myself once upon a time. I DO remember it not happening until high school though. NOT AT 10 years old!

Happy birthday Jake. Act your damn age!

Faith Turns 6

Faith turned 6 last week. I know I say this every single year… but REALLY?? Six?? Unbelievable. She was so excited for her birthday this year- it was really cute because in the past it hasn’t been a very big deal to her but this year she was talking about it for weeks beforehand. Kind of incessantly. She basically wanted everything she saw in every store we went into and on every TV commercial she saw for the two months leading up to the big day.  She wrote out a birthday list that included who she would invite, what she wanted for cake, what she wanted as presents, what would be in goody bags, where the party would be, etc.. 

The night before her birthday I took down the blog and we read together how she was born at 9:29AM. We looked at the pictures of her little bald head with the glued on red bow. We talked about how right after the dr. took her out of my tummy I asked, “Is it really a girl??” because I still didn’t truly believe I was going to have a daughter.

When she woke up on March 6^th she was greeted with huge “Happy Birthdays” from all of us, including Grandma Mary who stayed in town to help celebrate. She was definitely the Queen for a Day. She had a chocolate donut with m and ms’s on top for breakfast and opened one of her presents from Auntie Sue so she could wear new clothes to school that day. She was very excited to bring in her birthday treat to school (chocolate cupcakes made with help from Grandma Mary) and was highly anticipating the time when she would get to stand on one of the tables in her classroom while her classmates sang “Happy Birthday” to her.  

After school Brian took her to dinner at her choice of places- Lulu’s Pizza. They were only gone for about an hour because she was just too excited to come home and open her presents. She got several stuffed animals (a Mama Tiger and a Baby Tiger), some clothes, a Lego Friends Pet Salon from her brothers, and a little pony that walks when you pet its back. She was thrilled with all of her presents. We followed that with cupcakes and ice cream. I tucked my baby in that night and besides being so grateful to have her in my life, I felt very nostalgic for the days of her babyhood.

Saturday was her birthday party with her friends from school. She chose to have the party at the place that she does her gymnastics. The six girls played for an hour on the equipment then had cake (animal theme, of course)and ice cream and opened presents. Grandpa Phil and Joan were in town for the weekend so they got to participate in the fun. 

All in all, I think her 6th birthday was a huge success and I can go back to devising a way to keep her this age forever. 

Last Day

I think we're kind of ready to be home. We are both a little done with the resort, both a little done with the food, and both a little done with the weather. We are having a nice time together and the sounds of the waves as a backdrop to everything is just great, but we miss the kids and are ready to be back home.

Today it rained again. Marisa handled it much better than I thought she would, I was concerned upon waking and hearing the rain falling that I was going to have to play "perspective goalie" all day today. But she got up and went for a walk on the beach after breakfast while I went and worked out and sat in the sauna for awhile. After that we met up for a chilly, but fun, swim. We read for a little bit down by the beach and just had a very low-key morning.

She wanted to go out to lunch instead of eating at the resort, so we walked down to the Margaritaville Restaurant and had lunch and walked back in the rain. We got ice cream in the lobby and then came back up to the room for a nap. Now I am typing this while she is down working out. I think a night in is on the agenda, with room service dinner and a movie. We'll make time for one last walk on the beach tonight before it gets dark.

We've had a great time, and a great break, but can't wait to come back home and see everyone.

Like They Say in Baseball...

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. Today it rained. All day. After such a beautiful warm Mexican day yesterday it is a little disappointing. Today was start to finish dreary, wet, and cold.  We got all of our souvenir shopping done, though, and took a long nap in our room. I still had the obligatory pina colada- I just had to drink it inside instead of at the pool or beach. I'm trying not to let the weather bug me too much and just appreciate the fact that we are here. 

The picture is me with the Senor Frog's frog here at the resort. Coco Bongo is a nightclub here that is really, really popular. It is advertised everywhere you go. Our resort arranges nightly trips there that leave at 10PM. Ha Ha. We are so old- neither of us can even imagine going out to a nightclub and starting our night at 10 O'Clock. Not at all like the "olden days" of single trips to Club Med! Wow how things change. 

Here's hoping for some sunshine tomorrow. Kiddos- since I know you are going to read this tonight, please do a little "sun dance" for us, OK? You can make it up as you go along... interpretative dance, a nice little chant... that should do the trick. 

Faith- I promised you I'd send you the picture of the towel elephant so here it is. Enjoy!

We miss you guys and love you more than you know. 

Meircoles (Wednesday)

So I have applied all of the quantum physics that I have learned from watching "The Big Bang Theory" and was able to explain to Marisa this afternoon, why the days seem so long here (even though it gets dark at 6:00 PM). We have all day, the same 24 hours that we have at home, but we have them all to ourselves. No, "Tanner is being mean to me!", "I'm hungry", making lunches, doing homework etc. Not that we don't love doing those things for the kids, you just don't know how much of your time they take up until you don't have to do them for awhile.

We woke up, and have been, at 6:00 am or so, which is just fine with me because I'm waking up when my body wants me to, not to an alarm, or to noise from upstairs, or to the dog. Just me saying, "I've had enough sleep, I'm well rested, I'm good, let's go!" It was gorgeous weather today, not as windy as it has been, no rain and warm. We started our day down at the "party pool" as they have chairs that face the Gulf and the beach. The Gulf was warm enough to swim in today and we dove in before 7:00 am and had a great morning swim before breakfast. After breakfast, it was back to the pool and our books for a bit.

At 10:00 we went down to the spa for our massages. We got massages in the couples room so we were both in the same room which was nice. The massage was awesome (full disclosure it was purchased on Living Social) and about put me 1/2 to sleep while I laid there. After massages it was back to the room for a shower and then we decided to go our separate ways for a bit. Marisa has a bit of "I am woman hear me roar!" in her that shows up every once in a while, today she needed to show Mexico that she could wander around on her own, undaunted. Not being able to keep up with that, and knowing that discretion states that I shouldn't be around when that particular part of her personality is in charge (just cause it does things that don't make sense to me, and I'm not allowed to ask why...", I went for a run on the beach. 

We met up on the beach about a mile from the resort and walked back together, hand in hand in the waves. The water was so great that as soon as we got back we changed and went back down to the beach to swim in the Gulf again. We had some drinks (Marisa more than me, she's still lit as I type), got some pizza, swam and cooled off. 

So now it was all of 1:00. We got some lunch (the pizza was technically a snack) and headed back up to the room for siesta time. We napped for a couple of hours, I don't think anyone needs details on how AWESOME that is. After nap, back down to the other pool for swimming and more boat drinks for someone....then back to the room to shower, write this blog post and get ready for dinner. I'd like to say we're going to go out and hit the disco or whatever, but we'll likely be in bed by nine. Again, just me saying, "enough for today, more tomorrow, let's hit the sheets." Again, our time, our rules, our needs. Awesome.


Tanner asked where exactly we were as he would like to come to Mexico so he can eat bean and cheese burritos for every meal. So the map is for him and the kids. The other pictures don't really need any explanation.

Tuesday

Great day. I can't say we did much- I am pretty sure we took 3 naps. We woke up early- around 6- so the day was relaxed and felt long in the best possible way.  We didn't leave the resort. We sat by both pools, walked on the beach a little, read, ate, worked out, drank tropical drinks.....did I mention that we napped?

Quote that best sums up the day: (Marisa- after getting up out of a hammock and starting to walk into the buffet for lunch):  "Honey, did I wear shoes?".  If that doesn't say "resort living" I'm not sure what does. 

One of the reasons for our multiple naps was the weather. It was beautiful all morning but after lunch- right around 1:00- it started pouring. It rained cats and dogs for about 15 minutes, then rained on and off for the next 2 hours. A perfect afternoon to read in bed overlooking the turquoise blue ocean, nodding off now and then, and finally turning to Brian to say, "Oh my god, is it REALLY 3:45??". 

There are TONS of shells here. Huge ones. They are gorgeous and Brian and I keep wanting to pick them up and bring them home to you guys but we know we probably couldn't get them through customs and neither of us is willing to risk Mexican jail. Sorry, guys. I'll try to get a picture of some of them tomorrow.

Faith- the picture of the kitty cat is for you. When we returned from lunch we found this little towel creation waiting for us on our bed. I instantly thought of you and knew if you'd been here you would have loved it.

Jake- the picture I took for you is of parasailing. There were lots of people out on the water today riding jet skis and parasailing.  Someday we will do that together. 

Tanner- you got the picture of the pelican  yesterday. I'll be on the lookout for a good picture for you tomorrow. On a side note, another indication that I am losing brain cells while I am here in Mexico is that I had to ask Brian what the name of that bird is that dives into the water and has a big beak). 

Si, excepto ella no es facil

Okay so this is a shot of our room in Cancun. Pretty great, right? You sir, would be wrong about that. Because of the above statement. Love her as I do, my wife is not easy, especially about bargains and getting what she paid for.

The room in question, while having an ocean view, had two double beds as opposed to the king bed that she wanted. I was told this was NOT romantic and would tarnish the memories of the vacation…We were told to come back to the front desk the morning to see about possibly switching rooms to get a king bed. We were there bright and early, unfortunately, the front desk operates on resort time (which we kind of expected). So we went and had a great breakfast, wandered around the resort for awhile and went back at 10:00 am.

They showed us a room with a king bed in our same building, with no view. Again, not acceptable. This is when I explained to the bellhop that my wife, while lovely and kind, wants what she wants and not much will dissuade her (using the above Spanish). So, back to the front desk we went. We were told this was the last available room. We then said the magic word, “upgrade” all of the sudden, the red sea parted and there were more rooms available, just not right then.  We had to come back at two when the rooms were clean. So we walked down to the shops and wandered around the hotel zone a little bit.

Back at 2:00 on the dot, we met with our new best friend at the front desk. She had a bellhop take us to a REALLY nice room with a king bed, ocean view, Jacuzzi tub, shower spa, free wi-fi and unlimited access to the gym (hey, you vacation your way, I vacation mine). The free gym swung if for me and we upgraded. We are both much happier.

If you are thinking the whole thing sounds a little orchestrated and planned, yeah you’re probably right. I’m fine going thru the rest of the vacation with “sucker” tattooed across my forehead. My wife is happy. As I also told the bellhop (we were buds by now), there is a saying in the US, “Happy wife, happy life”. Mine is, on both counts.

PS. Hey Tanner - Look at this cool pelican!

Kid Update

Faith started gymnastics class a month ago and is really enjoying it. She was very timid at first and I could tell how nervous she was to be on the bars or beam (or as she calls it, "the bean").  The first few lessons she was happy to do the class in her shorts and tshirt but last week she decided she really, really wanted a leotard and matching hair scrunchie. She came home and tried them on immediately and modeled them for her brothers and daddy. Today  I knew there was going to be trouble at class as her regular teacher wasn't there and the sub was a "boy teacher". Yep... the waterworks began. She has always been afraid of male teachers, from the time she was a two year old in her first swimming class. The other teacher was a woman so she got put in that group and luckily avoided the dreaded man teacher! Not sure where that phobia came from as she is surrounded by boys at home!

Faith is doing amazingly well in Kindergarten. She reads, reads, reads. She loves it and she is good at it. It keeps her entertained for long stretches, along with her art work and craft stuff. She will head up to the bonus room and come down an hour later with some creation. Last week it was a barn built of popsicle sticks filled with puff balls to which she had glued eyes and a beak. It was her "chicken coop". She named all of the chickens and kept it beside her bed for several days. She brought it in for "V" day at school and when I asked her what about it started with "V" she replied, "It's my VERY special chickens".  Smart cookie, that one.  She loves school and has her group of best friends there that she plays with and constantly wants to invite over to play. She has started complaining that she is tired of playing with "the boys" at home and recently started angling for a sister. Ummm... hate to tell her but there is no way on god's green earth that is happening! Luckily she still plays really well with Tanner and Jake.

Tanner recently lost a bottom tooth and two days later had one of his top teeth knocked loose during rough play on the trampoline. He was so upset because he really thought it was his permanent tooth that got knocked loose and he was just sobbing. It wasn't ready to be loose so there was lots of blood and drama and it really hurt so he got lots of TLC from Nana and me, and also from Jake and Faith who brought him his Giants blanket, his teddy bear, and a little packet of candy they put together. Those three really do look out for each other and take care of each other. It's so sweet to watch. The tooth in question hung in there for about 24 hours at which point I couldn't stand to look at it any more, hanging in his mouth at an awkward angle, so I convinced him to let me pull it out. Brian is really squeamish about teeth and wouldn't even look Tanner in the eye so the duty fell to me. Ick. Really gross. But it came out pretty easily. He left it for the Tooth Fairy and decided two days later when the Tooth Fairy STILL hadn't shown up (BAD MOMMY!) that she must be really busy or maybe she didn't believe that he really lost another tooth so quickly after the other one fell out. I told him that usually the Tooth Fairy pays an extra dollar for each day she is delayed, so he ended up getting three bucks from her in the end.

Tanner also loves school and is a great reader. He goes to bed half an hour before Jake and often uses that time to read his books in bed. He is getting so independent. He has his best friends still and they all hang out together both at school and at each others houses. He was invited to his first sleepover birthday party next weekend and even though he is dying to go and says he won't be nervous to sleep there, it makes me a little sad to know that he is that independent already. I know, I know. He is seven years old. But still..

Talk about growing up... then there's Jake. He turns ten next month. Double digits. Over half of his years at home are already gone. Scary. He loves fourth grade and his teacher, Mr. Borjian. He has finally expanded his reading horizons past sports books and just finished the City of Ember series. He is responsible about school work and homework, but I wouldn't say he likes it. He's got a good group of buddies, too, and despite more "friendship drama" than I'd like, he is happy. I thought only girls had friendship drama... apparently I was wrong. He still really likes choir and now says that when he grows up he wants to be a musician instead of a pro athlete. Hmmmm. Maybe a backup plan would be good on either front.

He's had a lull in his sports schedule lately and it has been really nice and relaxing not having practices during the week. It's been two months, actually, with only a baseball camp here and there and Faith's gymnastics. That will all change in less than a month when Little League starts. Brian is coaching Tanner's machine pitch team and Jake will do AAA again, hoping to get more experience before doing Majors next year. Brian is coaching Summer League this year and since he is now on the board for the North Boise Little League, he is going to allow Tanner to play on the same team as Jake, even though he is a few months shy of the cutoff age. All the boys are excited about that one! I have to admit I am also looking forward to getting back into sports- especially baseball.

Brian and I head to Mexico tomorrow morning at 5AM- I'm not sure how we will manage it in the budget but a trip away each year definitely needs to be a priority. We've been counting the days and are now down to hours. We woke up to snow this morning and a low of 6 degrees is expected Tuesday so we are so excited to be heading to a warm climate.  Break out the bikinis and shorts. We are staying at an all inclusive resort in Cancun so I'm hoping the biggest decision I have to make each day is whether or not I should have that second drink and if I should read or sleep by the ocean. Mary is staying with the kids and Mom is helping with entertainment, transportation, food, etc... I can't thank them enough. I told Brian that the thing I am looking forward to most is not having to do any sort of food prep for an entire week. That, to me, is HEAVEN. Brian, on the other hand, is most excited about not having to tell anyone to stop touching anyone else.

Winter's Not Done With Us Yet

Woke up to this.

More Things I Don't Want to Forget

Sunday mid morning is typically when I go grocery shopping. Sometimes it's just me, sometimes one or more of the kids come along. It just depends on what's going on at home and what Brian is up to and whether or not football is on. I always stop at Starbucks on my way to the store to get myself a mocha to drink while perusing the aisles at Fred Meyer or Walmart or WinCo. Last Sunday Jake decided to come with me and Tanner and Faith decided to stay home. I love when only one of them comes because it is great one-on-one time (and that is somewhat of a luxury around here!). As we sat down in the car I noticed that Jake tucked something in his pocket. I asked him what it was and he said it was nothing, not to worry about it. I cranked up the music and we headed out.

First stop was, of course, Starbucks. I ordered my drink and took out my iPhone Starbucks app to pay. But before she could scan the barcode on my phone Jake whipped out a $20.00 bill from his pocket (the mysterious slip of paper from the car) and said, "This one's on me!". The barista and I were both kind of shocked, touched, and laughing. He said he'd been planning it for awhile and wanted to treat me to coffee with his own money.  I think I had a smile a mile wide the rest of the day.

Later that day I was coloring with Faith when out of the blue she asked me,"Mom, how do you learn how to do all the things that you do?". I wasn't sure what she was talking about so I said, "You mean like coloring?" and she said, "No. Like how do you learn to be a good mommy?".  I told her that it is a very hard job but I learned from my mom and I learn as I go along and I make lots of mistakes. She was quiet for a few minutes and then said, "How many mistakes do you think you've made, Mom?".  I hugged her and said, "More than I could count. Thousands!". She assured me I am still the best mom ever.

Speaking of one-on-one time... Jake was at a sleepover party last weekend so Brian and Tanner got to have some male bonding time during the NFL Playoffs. The two of them turned on the afternoon game upstairs on the big screen, folded out the futon so they could stretch out, and enjoyed the game together. They were so cute sitting up there together, come dinnertime I couldn't resist making them dinner and delivering it to them to eat in the Bonus Room. This is usually a "no eating zone" so Tanner was thrilled to get his grilled cheese, chips, and carrots delivered to him on the futon. It was kind of sexist, but Faith and I stayed downstairs and watched some of Top Chef while we let the boys do their own thing.  Good one on one time for everyone this week!

Ski Night

As a follow-up to Marisa's previous post about the snow, we went up skiing for the first time in a couple of years over the weekend. 

We have had more snow so far this winter than we have had for the last two winters combined, plus it's staying cold enough for the snow to stay on the ground (it's 10 degrees out while typing this). Snow on the ground = sledding, sledding (for boys anyway) = desire for bigger hills to go down. The school organizes family ski nights at Bogus Basin and the first one of this year was this past Saturday night. It really is a great activity. As the Resort winds down for the day, you can go up, get discounted lessons and lift tickets and ski under the lights.

I'm not a HUGE fan of the road up there, it's windy and steep (duh) with no guardrails and makes me a little tense during the day, so driving up and back down in the dark was not something I was looking forward to, but the road conditions and the weather were perfect on Saturday, so up we went. 

This is the 1st year that Tanner was eligible to take snow board lessons and he was all fired up. Once we got their rental boots, boards etc., we headed out to meet their instructors. For whatever reason, most kids here ski, not snowboard. That combined with the fact that it was at night, meant that Tanner and Jake each had an hour and a half private snowboard lesson, equipment rental and lift ticket for $25.00, which was awesome. 

I wasn't sure how Tanner was going to do being dropped off in the freezing cold, but he was good to go. Jake had taken snowboard lessons before and was familiar with the process. Marisa, Faith and I went into the lodge to get out of the cold (it was five degrees out) and so I could try to watch the end of the Broncos game. There were a ton of parents from school in there and we found some friends to sit and chat with while the boys got their X-Games on. They both did really well.

At one point Marisa saw Tanner out the window and it looked like he and his teacher were heading back in. Fearing the worst, I bundled up and headed out to meet them. Tanner saw me trudging across the snow and raised his arms like, "what?". When I got out to them, he said, "What are you doing here?". I asked if he was okay and if they were done and he said, "I'm fine, we're going back up.", which loosely translated, came across as, "Get out of here Dad. You're embarrasing me.". So I turned around and headed back in to finish my burger and wait them out. 

Once lessons were done, we collected the boys and brought them inside for snacks. After about a 20 minute rest, they were raring to go back out. They left us in the lodge and went back out and boarded together for another forty minutes or so. I got a sense of foreshadowing for what trips up the mountain will be like as the boys get older. 

Once we had decided that they had enough, we returned the rental gear, loaded up the car and headed down the mountain. Everyone had their ipods on (Mom and Dad included) and it was a quiet and uneventful drive back home. We just pulled the Suburban into the garage, left the unpacking for the morning and got everyone (Mom and Dad included) off to bed.

There is another Ski Night scheduled in the next couple of weeks and I'm sure we'll be headed back up for some more fun on the slopes.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We got a pretty decent snowfall right after Christmas- before New Years- and it feels like it hasn't stopped since! I am pretty sure we have more snow right now than we did in the last 3 years combined. I LOVE it!! Today is an official Snow Day in the Boise School District, so the kids are home. They have built a snowman, built a snow fort, practiced pitching with snowballs, tried sledding and snowboarding across the street, and acted out The Lion King while drinking hot cocoa. Now they are playing Wii. And it is still coming down! Brian is on round 2 of shoveling the driveway- and even so, I think he is enjoying the weather as much as the kids and I are. We had several days that started at 4 degrees- and by "started" I mean it was still 4 degrees when we dropped the kids off at school. That is quite unusual here... but you know that global warming is just some liberal hippie thing that was made up to encourage car companies to create the Leaf, right?

The New Year started off great with our first of what I am sure will be MANY "date nights" at Sheila and Wayne's new house. They were in town from Dec 26- Jan 6 and we decided we could leave the kids at home with Jake in charge (and a cell phone) and walk the two doors down to spend an evening with our friends. We fed them first, stuck a movie in the DVD player, and headed out. How great was it to get a date night with best friends AND not have to pay for and arrange a babysitter???!!! We brought the "Red Neck Alcohol Tub", they provided the food, and we hung out for over two hours. It was such a success that we repeated the idea a week later- this time with them providing the wine while we provided the snacks. HEAVEN. 

A Lazy Mom's Christmas Blog

Top 10 Christmas Season Memories (in no particular order):

1. Mary was in town for the week leading up to Christmas. We did our fair share of Christmas shopping and Starbucks trips together and she did more than her fair share of baking with the kids, making Chex mix and "Grandma Mary Spaghetti Sauce", and playing card games.

2. We took the kids to Big Lots on Christmas Eve and they each used their own money to buy some toys for Toys for Tots. I was really proud of them all for their generosity. We tried to lead by example by buying things with our own money and then giving them the option to use their own money to buy additional toys. Each of them bought at least one item and stood in line on their own, using their ATM card to buy the gifts. We then drove to the fire station and they proudly put their goodies into the box.

3. The advent calendar continued to be a big hit each morning. I'm pretty sure that is the best $5.00 I ever spent at a garage sale! Faith's favorite treat was the Sixlets.

4. We watched way too many holiday movies. This year we introduced the kids to Elf and The Santa Clause. We also watched School of Rock (timed perfectly to get them in the right frame of mind for their presents from Santa Claus).  Next year it will be time for A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. 

5. We've never been fans of a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. Years past have seen everything from FFY to take out Chinese to fish and chips at the local pub (that was the year I was pregnant with Jake). This year Nana came over and we did a "make your own pizza night". I bought dough and sauce from a local pizza place and Nana demonstrated the fine art of pizza dough throwing.

6. We followed the pizza making with the annual opening of Christmas Eve jammies and Christmas Eve game. This year it was MouseTrap- a great game from my childhood. The kids loved it and it kept us all entertained. Then, right before bed, we all watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Shrek the Halls. The Kids all slept in the bonus room together on blow up mattresses. Amazingly they were all asleep by 930 PM.

7. Brian and I were up first on Christmas morning. We got breakfast started, made the coffee and energy drink (for Brian) then the kids got up around 645 when Nana arrived. They were very excited to see the gifts from Santa: the makings of a band including an electric guitar and amp, a keyboard, and an electric drum set. Yes, we are crazy. They have been making music ever since and are getting their first lesson on the guitar later this morning from a friend of ours in the neighborhood. Now our bonus room (already a truly multifunctional space) includes the title of "Music Room".

8. The only thing Faith truly wanted for Christmas was a stuffed reindeer from Build a Bear. She didn't waver from the time she saw it in the mall in November until Christmas morning. She was pretty excited to see Clarice waiting for her by the fireplace. The doll was actually from Nana but we left it out from Santa because it was the only thing she had actually asked for from him. She carries it everywhere.

9. The boys favorite gifts were from their Grandmas: Mary got them Madden 13 for the Wii and Nana got them each a pair of Reebok Reezig shoes in Boise State colors. They were ecstatic. Seriously. I thought Jake might cry he was so happy. He just kept hugging Nana and thanking her over and over again. I think the reaction alone made Nana's day.

10. We didn't get a white Christmas, but we did get snow the day after and several days following. We still have several inches on the ground with more falling as I type. The low was 15 degrees last night so it's chilly but it has been sunny during the day and really beautiful. 

Holiday Performances 2012

This year the older elementary students didn't put on a holiday concert, but a few weeks prior to the holiday break Jake got to perform with the school choir. He is loving being part of the 4/5/6 choir and got to perform not only for the parents this month but also at the Capitol building in downtown Boise and at the VA hospital. Very cool. He goes to choir every Tuesday and Thursday before school and is one of only a few boys (maybe THAT'S why he's so into choir... smart boy!).

Tanner and Faith had their holiday concert the day before break and it was a BIG DEAL to them. Tanner really wanted to dress up and, given that we have only sport shorts, tshirts, and under armour gear in his closet, we decided to let him pick out brand new stuff for the show. I was thinking maybe some khaki pants and a short sleeved button down. He, however, had a different idea. He picked out a tie, vest, slacks, and dress shirt. Funny kid. He was so excited to get to dressed up, and also to get BRAND NEW clothes (usually he's in hand-me-downs from Jake).  Faith decided to wear a dress she had gotten from Abby and since she only had tennis shoes, we let her pick out the fancy boots you see in the picture below. Pretty sure this was the single most impractical item I have ever purchased for one of my children!!

They both had a great time and we were lucky enough to have both grandmas here to see the performance. Nothing says, "Here comes the holiday!" like a group of K-3rd graders singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!" at the top of their lungs.

There is no Offseason

This past weekend was the last weekend of the YMCA Boys Basketball season for this year. This made for a VERY busy Saturday. It was one of the few times this season that the boys basketball schedules didn't directly conflict, so I was able to watch some of Jake's game before Tanner and I had to leave to get across town to his game.

He did great and has made a lot of progress this year. This is the last year he will likely play in the YMCA league as he is eligilbel to play AAU next year if he would like and he is ready to play at the next level. His team has three other really good players and the coach (also his football coach) does a good job rotating the boys in throughout the game. He does put all of the good kids together on the floor in the 4th quarter, which has led to some great come-from-behind finishes this season. This last game in fact they won by one point, with no time left on a free throw, so it was very exciting. Jake really likes basketball and I'm interested to see what he chooses to do with it going forward as he is sort of at a cross-roads with it now. For AAU, believe it or not, the teams are organized by which high school you are planning to attend, so now we have to figure that out.....

I had an absolute blast coaching Tanner's team this year. There was only one kid that I didn't coach last or coached in another sport, so all of the kids were really comfortable which makes those first few games and practioces much easier. Tanner was also really happy that most of his good buddies were on his team. We worked a lot on setting goals (my goal for the season was to be able to tell Shane and Ryan, the twins, apart without looking at their shoes - I did it, which was awesome. I went an entire baseball season getting them confused before now.), and all of the boys improved a lot over the season. This was one of the best 1st grade teams that I have ever coached. There is no score at this level, but if there were, we would have won EVERY game, by A LOT. Even the other coaches were amazed at how well these boys played together. I ran out of things to teach them that applied at this level, so for the last two practices, we worked on a give-and-go set play that is pretty advanced for this age (it's mainly bunch ball on the court), and the boys ran it twice for layups in our last game.

All of the parents seemed very appreciative of the team and coaching as well, making sure that I would email them next season for sign-ups so we could attempt to have the same team.  After the game, we had the end of the season pizza and trophy party and had a really good time. 

The very next day we were out at the  North Boise Little League equipment shed cleanout. Since I joined the board of the local little league, I have been spending a lot more time on baseball. As we get start to get ready for 2013 sign-ups, it was time to clean out, organize and order more equipment from our huge shed. I volunteered to help out and decided to bring the boys with me so they could pitch-in and help their league, plus learn a little something about volunteering and how much work goes in behind the scenes so that they can play the soprts the love.

It was cold. There was A TON of equipment to go through. We had a lot of help and it still took us almost five hours of work in the cold outside to get it cleaned out and organized. I still have to go back and help with the ordering. The boys did so great and I was so proud of them. Jake had some buddies show up that he had played with in the past, but Tanner just jumped right in working with different grown-ups, sorting equipment etc., while I re-stocked the shed with the re-organized gear bags. For five hours, they hauled heavy equipment bags, hand checked freezing cold aluminum bats and followed directions on whatever they were asked. I was so proud of how hard they worked wihtout complaining that I took them out for Applebees afterwards to celebrate (and get warm). We watched the Sunday night football game in the bar and got wings, dinner and dessert. We had a really great time out. 

We love our sports here in the Alan household, but sometimes it feels like it never ends.

Christmas Prep

We got a late start to the holidays this year.  Thansgiving was so early, and then last weekend I was in Portland for a "sisters weekend" so we just finally got around to decorating last night. As per usual, we stopped at several tree stands before going back to the one closest to our house where we picked out a short, fat tree that everyone was worried wouldn't be big enough or pretty enough.  But I was sold on it. Brian even went so far as to suggest that we may need to go buy a second tree since the one I picked out, upon further look once it was in the stand, appeared to be ugly. Howver, in a spoiler for the blog post ahead, IT IS BEAUTIFUL, if not a little quirky, and the Chrismtas Spirit is now in full swing at the Alan household. 

We had a snacky dinner- tradition- while decorating. The kids loved the spread of salami and cheese, pigs in a blanket, and pizza rolls (not a vegetable in sight). I was more partial to the dessert that my mom brought- another spread with choices between cheesecake, carrot cake, and chocolate cake. Yum. Tis the season.  Brian assumed his usual position on the couch where he handed out the ornaments to the kids one by one, I assumed my role as the "teller of the story" behind each ornament and the person that relocates the ornaments that the kids hung (all in a similar height level clump), and my mom watched from her chair, adding to the stories when she could- contributing those that were attributed to Papa, great grandmas, and the like.  


It is our first Christmas in our new home and really does look beautiful. We have garlands on the staircase, stockings hung on the mantel, the tree in the back window, a poinsettia on the table, and lights out front. We tried to put our blow up Santa and penguin up in the kids rooms but it turned out that they were too loud so we had to move them (to Goodwill).  

We followed the decorating with our annual viewing of Shrek the Halls and we all laughed out loud at all of our favorite parts- trying hard not to quote and requote the characters (Yes, Jake, I'm talking about you!).  Shrek  stated, "That wasn't Christmas, that was CHAOS!" and Donkey reminded him that  in his family "Christmas ain't Christmas 'til somebody cries.". There are so many lines in that show that are laugh out loud funny. It's a great reminder that Christmas doesn't have to be perfect- which came as a great reminder since my Christmas cards arrived the day before with a glaring typo on them and they're being sent anyway! Martha Stewart I am not. 

So, we are all in the spririt and trying to enjoy each and every day of this magicial season.   

It's On Like Donkey Kong

It has been like the 80's all over again around here lately. Marisa wrote about our Gilligan's Island Film Festival (which is still ongoing). We just watched BIG with the kids the other night, which they liked until it got too grow-up.

Out latest time warp occurred, as a lot of the reasons why we do the things we do....um...do, because of a Groupon. Marisa found out about a new place in Eagle called Grinkers that just opened. It is a restaurant/arcade with only 1980's-era video games. All the games have been restored and still only cost a quarter. We hit up some friends of ours in the neighborhood who were game to go (no pun intended) and hit it up for dinner last night.

It is exactly like the arcades of our youth. Dark, crowded and filled with kids. There were a lot of families as well with kids. It was funny to see other 40 somethings walking around reminiscing and checking out all the games. Even the change machines were from the 80's. We got the kids some quarters (and got some for ourselves), and spent an hour or so playing; Pole Position, Frogger, Tron, Centipede and Dig Dug. Tanner and Faith loved Alpine Ski and Jake was a big punch out fan.

They served sandwiches and, appropriately enough, Funyons. The food was pretty good, the service was totally confused, but they were trying. There were a TON of teenagers in there, so it's going to be a hangout for sure (you can't beat quarter games). It was fun to remember what it used to be like back in the day and to hear the kids walking around saying, "I only have two quarters left".