Things are rolling right along here in the Alan Household- I didn't say rolling smoothly, but they are rolling! Our hard drive and back up hard drive crashed so we lost all our music and photos and our refrigerator caught on fire and melted part of the interior (along with all our food) so we are currently in our second week of arguing with Sears on whether or not they need to replace it and in the meantime are living out of a small rental fridge in our garage. But (drum roll please while I cross my fingers and knock on wood...) everyone is back to sleeping!!!! And, really, if I have learned anything in the adventure of parenthood it is this: Well rested parents and well rested children are they key to a happy family life!!!
I am really enjoying my new job. It is such a cool company to work for and one that I really believe in, so talking about them to the teachers in Idaho is easy and fun. Plus they are a really fun group of people. . The program I am training teachers on(Apangea Math 5.0) was purchased for 43,000 students in Idaho so there is a lot of implementing to be done! Overall the teachers are receptive and fun to work with and although I miss my students (and being part of a staff) the diversion from the classroom has been good for me and also for the family. I am able to walk Jake to school most mornings and pick him up some days,spend more time with Tanner and Faith in the AM, and work from home when I am not on the road. Right now I am spending about 1 night/week in a hotel in some odd Idaho location because they have not yet hired the two other "Learning Specialists" (but promise me they are working on it). The nights away are lonely, actually, and I regret giving Brian such a hard time about work trips being "a vacation" when we first moved to Idaho and he was gone so much. On the positive side, though, II have so much more "quiet time". Since I am driving a lot I can call friends, drink my coffee, listen to music and books on CD, then return home in the afternoon much less harried and out of patience than I used to when coming home from a long day of teaching. All in all it was a good move for me at this time in my life.
Jake loves Kindergarten and has made lots of new friends. He has a crush on this little girl named Quinn and gets all embarrassed and giggly when he talks about her. Mostly they play "chase" on the playground. Ahhh... young love! He starts basketball next month and participated in a River Clean Up project last weekend with Brian. He is too much like me- it hits me everyday and sometimes it justt breaks my heart. My faults are his faults- his irrational fears (being in the dark and being alone); his extreme sensitivity(that one is also Brian's genes); his desire to please; his worries when he doesn't do something right; his tendency toward jealousy. It is painful to me to watch because I know how hard those traits can be and I want to be understanding and supportive while at the same time not wanting to coddle him too much and enable the behavior. The nature vs. nurture issue keeps rearing its head as I watch him develop into the tender hearted yet challenging boy that he is. I just want to hug him tight and not let go.
Tanner is t
alking so much now. He has turned into quite the little conversationalist and keeps us laughing with his singing, dancing, and troublemaking abilities! He can be quite dramatic and will throw his arms down and sigh disparagingly when we reprimand him. He still loves to read- his current obsession being "Froggy Plays T-Ball" which I finally had to hide last week. He has an absolutely incredible baseball ability. He hits home runs off live pitches and has an arm that amazes everyone that watches him play. He can be a total goofball. He and Jake made up this character they call "Apple Butt" and he constantly puts "Apple Butt" in different stories and just cracks himself up.
alking so much now. He has turned into quite the little conversationalist and keeps us laughing with his singing, dancing, and troublemaking abilities! He can be quite dramatic and will throw his arms down and sigh disparagingly when we reprimand him. He still loves to read- his current obsession being "Froggy Plays T-Ball" which I finally had to hide last week. He has an absolutely incredible baseball ability. He hits home runs off live pitches and has an arm that amazes everyone that watches him play. He can be a total goofball. He and Jake made up this character they call "Apple Butt" and he constantly puts "Apple Butt" in different stories and just cracks himself up. 
Faith is growing up too fast, refusing her nighttime bottle (I know logically that this is a good thing, but she's my BABY and I am not ready!), copying everything her brothers do, and is starting to sing and dance. She climbs up the ladder on our playset and slides down the slide by herself as I stand by watching and trying not to get too protective as I see her feet slip a little on the ladder. She has quite a temper on her and will throw her body down on the ground and sob relentlessly if something is taken away from her. This morning she pooped in the potty- she didn't tell anyone, just took her diaper off, sat down, and later we found the evidence in the little potty that Tanner is still trying to master. I wouldn't be surprised if she is potty trained before TJ at this point! Of course, we went out and got her big girl undies immediately- even though it will be a long while until we actually put her in them!
