The Great American Camp Out was scheduled for tonight. There was supposed to be this big event at the barn with lots of families camping together-S'mores, storytelling, stargazing, BBQ, the whole shebang. But due to several bear sightings in our neighborhood the event was canceled. So we decided to camp out in our backyard anyway. There's bears all over Yosemite and Yellowstone, right? But, since Jake didn't want to nap (a requirement for the camping thing) he decided to "camp out" on our guest bed instead. Yep, we're really roughing it here in Suburbia!
Brian and Jake are sleeping there tonight, then because Tanner was so bummed that he didn't get to do it, he and I will be camping in it tomorrow night. There will be donuts for breakfast (a necessity for any camping experience- whether it be on a queen size temperpedic bed or on hard rocky ground). When the boys look back on their childhood it will probably be the the little things they will remember anyway!
Post Note: Although Faith slept in her crib, and Tanner slept with me, they joined the crew for morning donuts in the tent.
Faith has almost got her four top front teeth. Her lower middle one is still trying to poke through, but it looks like we can soon drop the nickname of "Ellie Mae" . One morning at the park last week Faith took a header onto the concrete blacktop. She cried a little, but not too much, so I didn't think anything of it. But you can see in the picture that she really took a good one. My little boxer.
Tanner is doing great on potty training. He calls his big boy underwear his "Boy Boys". He has also figured out how to get out of going to bed: as soon as songs are done and books are read, he tells us he has to go potty. New rule starting tonight: Potty needs to be done BEFORE heading upstairs to bed. We'll deal with the ACTUAL potty needs at bedtime when he is no longer wearing a pull-up to bed.
Jake is riding his two wheeler really well. I am so proud of him!!! He is scared to go on sidewalks, though. We have practiced in the street (with Brian jogging along side) and in the school parking lot/playground, but he is terrified of riding on the narrow sidewalk. So, until that fear is overcome we are unable to ride to the pool, the park, etc... In the meantime we will keep practicing.
Sheila, Wayne, and Shelby came to visit last weekend. It was so great to spend time with old friends! They had the luxury of staying at Grandma's place so they only had to deal with the chaos of our household for bits at a time. It was pretty cool having the "second home" to use! The boys both loved them. Tanner called Wayne 
"Hunky Wayne" instead of "Uncle Wayne"- to the amusement of all. We showed them around Boise (where they picked up many house flyers, amazed by the low prices), hung out at the pool, and BBQ'd, but the highlight ( in my opinion) was the multi-course dinner with cocktails and good conversation that DIDN'T include, "Sit down!". "Stop playing with your fork!" , or " Faith, you can't play with knives!". It was like old times, actually. A great reminder that even though friends may be far away, picking up where we left off still comes easily.
A few posts ago I wrote that in the event I don't get a teaching job for next year I will be a stay-at-home mom for the year. Yeah..... never mind. Nix that idea. Last week was my first full-time week on my own (the nanny had to go out of town for her grandmother's funeral so I canceled the job I was supposed to do). While it was fun waking up each morning and taking the kids to the park, playing in the backyard with water balloons, doing the usual stuff leisurely instead of cramming it into the weekend.... I just am NOT designed to do this full time. I have wrestled all week with whether this makes me a worse mother than my counterparts who are able to do it so naturally and gracefully. But maybe it is similar to any other career: some people make great lawyers, some make star basketball players.... some make great stay-at-home moms. I don't fit into any of the above categories, but I do know that I am pretty good at being a working mom. Maybe that's my niche. So, I think I will just cross my fingers, try not to beat myself up too much, and keep on scouring Craigslist and Boiseidahojobs.com- because I am not sure my sanity would survive staying home!
No one is sleeping. At least not well. Faith wakes up before 6 every morning. Jake is up at 6:05, practically on the dot. Tanner follows soon after. And this is after each one has woken up in the night at least once. No one is sleeping. We are tired. The kids have dark circles under their eyes. I'm sure Brian and I have looked better. So, at 4:30 this afternoon, Brian and I decided that we just needed to get out. It was a good 3 hours until bedtime and everyone was cranky and the thought of playing referee to three exhausted kids seemed overwhelming. So we piled in the van to get some dinner.On the way back from Taco Bell (OK.... where besides fast food are we going to take three whiny children? Not one of our finer parenting moments, but there you have it...) Jake announced from the far back seat, "Mom, we need to clean out the car. There's a bunch of goat heads back here!".Brian and I looked at each other, not sure if we heard correctly in our exhausted state. So we turned down the music and clarified, "Jake, did you say GOAT HEADS?". He confirmed. "Yeah... there's a lot of them. I think I must be bringing them home from camp each afternoon."More confused glances. Brian tried for further clarification: "Actual goats? Like the HEADS of real goats???". That got a giggle. "NO! Not REAL goats, Dad. The plant!".Now it was my turn. I took a guess: "Did you learn in camp today about a plant called a 'goat head', Jake?"Bingo. Now that it was established that there weren't actually bleeding decapitated mammals inhabiting the back seat with our son, we were curious to find out more. So Jake told us that he would show them to us when we got home.As soon as we pulled into the driveway, he bounded up front and opened his palm to reveal the mysterious plant... it was a FOX TAIL.
Brian and I cracked up, sure that he had just gotten the name wrong. Both names combine an animal and a body part-easy to get confused. Brian made some joke about another plant called the "Ratbutt". But Jake insisted they were really called Goat Heads.
So I got on the computer, googled it, and discovered that my five year old had taught us something new today. Our car is indeed filled with goat heads. Who knew?
Everyone is doing great, but growing up too fast!
Jake's in summer camp, can swim, and starts Kindergarten (for real this time!) in August , TJ knows his letters and numbers and colors and talks in complete sentences, Faith is walking and talking and beating up her big brothers. They are a crack up- all the time.
Faith's favorite thing to do in the world is go into the pantry and take down everything she can reach. Then she carries one or two things into the living room and practices climbing up and down the fireplace mantle with the items- over and over and over and over. Her current faves are the individual tea bags and the Ritz cracker tubes. Faith says so many words now, I couldn't possibly list them. Her favorites continue to be "MINE!" and "MORE!" She screeches whenever her brothers try to take something away from her, tries to stand up in her high chair constantly, and is obsessed with shoes. If Jake holds out his arms to her she runs into them and gives him a big hug- which I can't get enough of seeing and makes Jake so happy!
Tanner has a maniacal laugh and a deadly twinkle in his eye- he is sure to be some poor father's worst nightmare come dating age! He is also quite a looker (if I do say so myself!). It is impossible not to laugh when he purposefully misbehaves because he is so darn cute. He is enjoying having Vanessa (the nanny) here and is progressing on potty training- usually saving the potty full of #1 or #2 for me to actually SEE when I get home, which is always really special! Lately his favorite thing to do is clean. He takes a damp sponge and wipes off every surface he can find in the house. I don't know WHERE he got that gene from!The video is of him singing "The Crocodile Song" from swim lessons. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream. AHHHHHHH!"
Jake is learning to ride a two wheeler without training wheels and is being very brave. I was worried because he has never been the most adventurous/daredevil type of kid. I think he was 3 before he finally went down a slide himself! But he is enjoying practicing with his Daddy. He is a great big brother and even though he complains about Tanner all the time he obviously loves him to death and cracks up at his antics as much as Brian and I do. He says the funniest things. Last night it was really warm upstairs so I pointed the fan directly at his bed and told him that Tanner would have to sleep with him so he could also benefit from the cool air. Knowing how hard Tanner is to sleep with, he looked at me and said wearily, "OK, Mom. Here goes nothin'!" He is still such a cuddly boy and the other night when I commented how big he was getting he said, "Don't worry, Mom. I will still snuggle with you even when I'm 100." Well, thank goodness for that.
Brian and I just watch them and LAUGH. We are really excited for our road trip. We leave August 1st and even though I know parts of it will be trying and there will be minutes and/or hours when we want to strangle each other, I can't wait!!!! Put on some music, pop in some movies, fill up that vat of Diet Coke, and let the fun begin.
Happy Summer to everyone :)
I had an excellent Fathers Day again this year. I got my presents the night before (which I always love!); a great picture frame and card from Jake and a new iPod to replace my old one (five years old, three batteries, cracked case, scratched screen, no longer works unless it's plugged in - it led a good and fulfilling life...but you can watch movies on this one!).
Some details about the day in a minute, but first something Marisa said had me thinking all day about my life and what being a Father means to me. Normally, the kids wake us up in the morning, and most mornings, we all get up around the same time. Sometimes (rarely) Marisa stays in bed a little longer if I can convince her to. So yesterday, she was going to let me sleep in. She went into the boys room at about 5:15 am when Jake started to stir so she could get them back to sleep so I could sleep in. A little while after that, Faithy started to fuss in her room. I was already pretty much wide awake, so I got up and brought her downstairs.
We played a little bit and I fixed her some breakfast while I started the laundry. When the boys and Marisa came downstairs, I made waffles for breakfast while the new iPod played and folded the first load of clothes. Marisa explained that she was trying to let me sleep in and said, " I guess you really love your life if this is how you choose to spend your Fathers Day."...meaning the same way we spend almost every Sunday. That really got me thinking.
That is the way I would choose to start ANY morning if I could. Not on the golf course, not out on the river, not at a guys weekend in Vegas. But home, with my kids, first thing in the morning. Music on, kids playing and talking, trying to plan out a day when you can't even hear yourself think. I DO love my life, and it's all due to my wonderful wife and kids.
We went for an (unintentionally) long bike ride, stopped and had smoothies for lunch, napped and hit Chili's for dinner. I have been really watching what I have been eating and had been jonesing for an Awesome Blossom, and one of those new burgers, with the huge, thick bacon. Well dinner did not disappoint (that bacon may be one of the best things I have ever eaten...). Then home, movies and the NBA finals. What a great day!
On a side note, I have been trying to teach Jake to ride his two wheeler without training wheels. He is doing really good so far as you can see in the video below. I figured grass would be less scary. He just got a two wheeled scooter and has been doing great on his skateboard and in swim lessons. It won't be long until Fathers Day starts with, "See Ya Dad. Me and Tyler are skateboarding down to the pool, be back later...", with the sound of the slamming screen door echoing over my John Hiatt from the iPod......enjoy them while you can. Thanks for the great Fathers Day, Marisa, Jake, Tanner and Faith, I love you all and couldn't imagine (or would want) a life without all of you in it.
-Brian
... your boss begins your "End-of-the-Year" meeting with, "I'm not going to fire you, but...."? Although I had already started looking for a new job, I am (as per the verbatim suggestion of my supervisor) "amping up my job search" here in Boise. Among other things I am, apparently, a "bully"- I know that many of you are probably laughing out loud right now trying to picture ME as a BULLY!!!As most of you know, I have not been happy with the change in leadership this year. She and I don't see eye to eye on some pretty major issues. In the school this year we had one threat (by a 7th grader) to bring a gun to school, and in my class had one allegation of physical and verbal abuse and an instance (six months ongoing...) of "consensual" sexual activity between an 11 year old boy and an 8 year old girl in my class. I wasn't comfortable how any of the incidents were handled, but was told that "it is the difference between public school and private school". In any case, I am done with the craziness there. (Many of you remember my pathological liar student last year and the one in "equine therapy".). As much as I really enjoy many of my coworkers and think the educational program there has some real strengths, I can't continue to work for someone that I don't trust.So far there are really no leads here on teaching jobs, but I hear that things often open up at the last minute so I am trying not to freak out. I am exploring all options- even those outside education. Being a stay-at-home mom is another option- although not one I think I would be particularly good at! But things happen for a reason and I am sure that reason will become apparent at some point down the line.
As Marisa noted in her last post, my Grandma just passed away this last weekend. Grandma Daufel had a very full and rich life, and was in amazing health for almost all of it. I got to see her one more time before she passed away as did a lot of friends and family (we had to keep rotating out of the hospital room, there were so many of us). She finally passed on Saturday, surrounded by all her children and family that loved and cared about her. We should all be so lucky to live as long and as well and, when the time comes, to pass surrounded by love and compassion.
Regrets always accompany a loss like this. I should have seen her more, I should have made more of an effort. She sent me a card on every birthday and Christmas - this year included....I sent her photos when I thought of it. But I think these type of thoughts are par for the course when dealing with a loss, and I am trying to deal with it by looking forward and not back. By looking and examining my life in the face of losing someone I loved.
This is a song that I listen to when I feel my perspective getting out or whack, or when I get overwhelmed with my "to-do" list, or feel something is more important than it actually is, to pull myself back and get centered again. This is by John Corbett (yes the Northern Exposure actor guy...yes he put out an album...yes I know, I am probably the only one who knows that) and is a great song.
Good to Go - by John Corbett
Waitin' at a stoplight yesterday as a funeral procession made it's way through the gates
I watched it roll up a winding road through a field of green with white headstones all in a row
And it made me think about where I'm at on my not so straight 'n' narrow path
Of the generous and mostly undeserved blessings that I've had
...
Had an All American mom and dad,
some of the coolest friends you could ever have
Found love I thought I'd never find.
I can't believe this life is mine
And I'm not planing on leaving yet,
but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
I'm good to go
...
I said a prayer for the dearly departed, and the loved ones left broken hearted and traffic started
And I drove away a little more able to see the good things on my table, for that I'm grateful
Cause I've had my troubles I've had my trials, I've hit the mark and I missed by miles
Had days when I'd been fightin' mad but the good times have more than outweighed the bad
...
Got to hold my new born baby girl,
and the hand of a man as he slipped from this world
I've laughed so hard I couldn't stop,
seen the sunrise from a mountain topAnd I'm not planing on leaving yet, but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
...
And I've been thinkin' 'bout where I'm at on my not so straight 'n' narrow path
And I wouldn't wanna change nothing about this roll with the punches life I've had
...
Had an All American mom and dad some of the coolest friends that you could ever have
Found love I thought I'd never find. I can't believe this life is mine
And I'm not planing on leaving yet, but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
I'm good to go
So I'm going to take Grandma's passing and look at my own life. Look at what I have and have had, and be thankful, as I'm sure she was. I'm going to take stock, so that when my time comes, I'll be ready and grateful.
Love to all. I miss you Grandma, but thanks.
Brian
The Great American Camp Out was scheduled for tonight. There was supposed to be this big event at the barn with lots of families camping together-S'mores, storytelling, stargazing, BBQ, the whole shebang. But due to several bear sightings in our neighborhood the event was canceled. So we decided to camp out in our backyard anyway. There's bears all over Yosemite and Yellowstone, right? But, since Jake didn't want to nap (a requirement for the camping thing) he decided to "camp out" on our guest bed instead. Yep, we're really roughing it here in Suburbia!
