Don't Try Looking For Him... He's Not There

Our big holiday event of the season- the R-House Christmas Program and Party- was on Saturday. Tanner had been rehearsing at school for weeks. They take their holiday program VERY seriously at his daycare. He was involved in 8- count'em- EIGHT little songs/skits complete with hand motions and simple costumes. He had been showing us glimpses of what was to come throughout all of last week. A few notes of "Silent Night" here, an action of a tree growing there... So, we were pretty excited to see the performance. We dressed to the nines (Well... Faith did!) and headed out to cheer our little guy on. As soon as we arrived Tanner began acting a little strange- hiding behind my leg, not wanting to play with the other kids, being shy with his teachers, etc... but when it came time to take him in the back room to get ready we were surprised that he willingly went with his teacher. About five minutes later, though, he was brought back to us, sobbing. Heaving sobs. He had no desire to perform. He was apparently terrified. So, while the rest of his group (see picture) carried on, Tanner gave me a private concert. He sat in my lap and sang the songs in my ear, occasionally adding in some appropriate hand gestures.



As if this all wasn't traumatic enough, Santa showed up after dinner. Even though Tanner seemed interested and watched as his sister smiled at the jolly guy and accepted a gift, when the time came for him to sit upon his knee, he wouldn't have any of it. That's Miss Rhonda (the owner of the daycare) in the picture with him. He screamed, "Mama! Mama!" and reached for me. After a few seconds Santa handed him his present and through his sobs everyone heard him say, "Thank you!" as he was handed back to me. That night he slept in our bed after awaking to a bad nightmare: We are pretty sure it is Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.... a bigger hole in the ozone layer

As you can see we - and by "we" I clearly mean "Brian"- decorated the outside of our house this weekend. At Costco we purchased a Holiday Lighting and Storage Kit which included a revolutionary new system for hanging lights on high eaves (I am only being SLIGHTLY facetious). Really, it turned what used to be an all day adventure full of danger (icy roof) and lots of swear words into less than one hour consisting almost entirely of Brian yelling in the windows things like, "You gotta call your mom and sisters and tell them about this thing! It's SO GREAT!" and "Really, Honey. Call up everyone we know and send them to Costco!". The best part (Brian wants to be sure I tell you all this...) is that all of the lighting, including Santa and the reindeer (named "Santa Alan" and "Pouncer" by Jake) are controlled BY ONE SWITCH. I've never been prouder. An auspicious start to our holiday season, for sure.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

We took the kids to see the big man in the red suit at our annual holiday party this Saturday. As you can see, the three kids had vastly different reactions:




Jake: "You're my best friend, Santa!"














Faith (Having been rudely awakened by Mom after falling asleep on our neighbor Greg's shoulder): "I don't think you're the guy I fell asleep on... and what's up with that goofy hat?"









Tanner: "I don't care if he DOES have candy and presents.... get me the hell out of here!"









The kids gorged themselves on holiday treats- even Faith got into the Christmas spirit and spread goo from a frosted sugar cookie all over her red dress. Jake got the chess set he had been asking for,Tanner got a Spiderman umbrella and proceeded to channel Gene Kelly out on the deck of the barn, and Faith (taking after her mother) got clothes.

Jake's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Santa, could I please have a Boise State football and a Boise State jersey? Santa, could I please have some checkers with red and black or white and black? Because me and my friends play it at school. This is what I want for Jake.

I want to give you something...a warm hat. I think we should buy a hat at the grocery store. At Albertsons.

I think Tanner would like books because he reads a lot of truck books and lots of animal books. Faith would like a blanket and Baby Mumm Mumms.

And I want an electric game on Spiderman. I like that we decorate a Christmas tree and have salami and cheese and pigs in a blanket for dinner. Santa, I wish that you had like a hundred presents in your house.

Daddy would like fishing stuff like lures and a fishing rod. Mommy wants clothes and coffee. Can Milo have a chewing toy? I been good so I get presents!

Love,
Jake

Tanner Turns 2

On one hand I can't believe my little guy is already two. On the other hand it is hard to believe that he is ONLY two, especially as Faith is nearing one. For weeks prior to his birthday Tanner would say "Me?" anytime he heard us mention the "B" word. We kept our gift giving simple: two presents. One was a pair of Spiderman light up shoes and the other an old skateboard that Brian refurbished. Yes, he may be only two, but he LOVES Jake's skateboard and we decided to get him his own version so the brothers can get their first concussion together. He loved the shoes but he absolutely adored the skateboard. He was attempting tricks on it immediately and after nearly experiencing his first head injury that night we had to take it away for the duration of the trip- until he got home and could wear his helmet.
My mom ordered him a Cars cake from Baskin Robbins. This, too, was a huge hit. He showed much more discretion in eating it than last year. (See? No chocolate on the face!) but enjoyed every bite.
Tanner loved playing with the toy that Lisa and John gave him- a stackable pyramid block thing that was actually pretty cool for the adults, too. He got lots of clothes from Grandma Mary , Auntie Lisa,and Auntie Sue, along with a Cars truck and a set of Magnetix that he loves.

He is SO two now. I swear.... he became a stereotypical two year old overnight. Everything is "Mine! Mine! MINE!" and "I do!!". He wants to do everything himself- including putting on his shoes and socks, which he really isn't quite capable of yet but he insists on doing it himself- even if it means we are late for school/work/dr. appts/the inauguration. He is so proud when he is successful, though. He beams and says, "DID IT, Mama!". He loves to stand in front of the potty and pretend he is peeing like the big boys do. Every few seconds he will stop and say, "Pee, Mama!" and point into the potty. As of yet the potty remains empty. Those of you that had your kids potty trained at 2 are miracle workers and have far more patience than I do! It gets so tiresome that I find myself telling him, "Not now, Tanner" and then kicking myself for squelching his enthusiasm (when he is 4 and still not potty trained I am sure I will regret that!)
In any case, he continues to crack us up. Happy Birthday Little Man. I hope the last two years have been as fun for you as they were for us.

Thanksgiving Roadie 2.0

We made our second annual road trip to Lisa and John's house in Seattle for Thanksgiving this year. Last year it was kind of a last minute sort of thing, so there wasn't really time for anyone else to react or to make any plans - and we had a great time. This year, the trip was planned out enough in advance that Kim/Bill/Abby/Aidan and Cori were able to make the trip as well. Lisa and John (Saint Lisa and Saint John?) had an entire houseful for several days over the holiday weekend. The trip was a lot of fun, but it is easier to recount if I group certain parts of it together, so:














1. Getting there (to and fro) - For whatever reason (stupidly and gluttony for punishment I think) Marisa and I decided to leave from Boise at 3:00 AM and drive straight thru to Seattle, arriving at 11:00 AM. This actually worked out well. Aside from throwing everone's sleep patterns off, the drive was a breeze. The kids all slept for portions of the drive. We hit a personal record best of three McDonalds in a 9 hour time frame and got to Seattle will still a lot of the day left to enjoy. On the way back, we did the reverse (again, who knows why?), leaving at 6:00 PM and driving straight thru, arriving back home in Boise at 3:00 AM. Again, great move. The kids slept, I got to listen to my music as whatever volume I wanted (I was so wired on Red Bulls, I was rocking out to the Ramones as we hit the Idaho border) and it was a very low impact drive. We stayed up for about an hour when we got home to give Faith a bottle and unwind and went to bed about 4:00 AM. Everyone slept until about 9:00, and we got up and went about our day.

2. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (no not the one on TV) - We went last year the day after Thanksgiving and had a really great time, so it was on the docket again this year. This year we ended up down at the Macy's where the parade ends and it worked out really well. It was no where near as cold as it was last year. Tanner really enjoyed the display window with the trains and airplanes going round and round. The older kids really enjoyed the parade, especially the portions where candy was thrown, they watched the entire hour and a half sitting on the curb. Faith enjoyed sleeping in the snuggly inside my jacket. The balance of the grown ups enjoyed popping into Macy's to; use the bathroom, buy chocolate, shop etc. I personally enjoyed the stop at the donut shop afterwards (another running tradition).

3. Thanksgiving Dinner (actually the food in general) - For those of you who have never had Lisa cook for you, let me just say you are missing out. For those of you who have, you know what I'm talking about.....The Thanksgiving Dinner was amazing. There was so much food and it was all so good that it went on for days and days afterwards. As you can imagine with 7 children under the age of 8 at the kids table, it wasn't a very relaxing meal, but it WAS delicious. Additionally, there was the aforementioned donuts (we had some left over hee, hee, hee...), the traditional trip for the boys to The Wingdome for wings and beers, and really great take out Mexican food. Yes, we made four trips to the grocery store in four days, but again, there were SEVEN kids.

4. Random Thoughts - Sleeping in the same room with all three of our children was so FUN (yes, sarcasm intended, it sucked bad). Not a one of them slept thru the night and Marisa and I split the night into shifts with either Faith or Tanner sleeping on one of us, or out of the room on the couch etc. Jake planned to sleep in the room with the girls (and then didn't) and then planned to sleep in with Grandma Cori (and then didn't). Naps were more frustrating than anything. I think the best the kids slept the entire trip was in the truck on the way back home. Tanner had a blast on his birthday (Marisa is writing that one), but really enjoyed vacuuming Lisa and John's house with the toy Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner (sorry guys, we totally accidentally and not at ALL on purpose forgot to pack that when we loaded the car) in Jessa's patent leather pumps (if the kid wasn't such a bruiser I would be worried). Very little, but very necessary and nice adult time. I think that we were all in the room together, before Bill fell asleep in the chair each night, for an hour or so. That is what made the trip last year so great and held true again this year, it's just really good to be able to talk and catch up with the people you care about. (Oh yeah, VERY CUTE puppies!)

5. Bad news for Lisa, John, Quincy and Jessa - I think this is becoming a tradition, and one that won't stop until you tell us not to come anymore. See you next year for version 3.0!

Just Some Things I Don't Want to Forget...

I looked through Jake's baby book last night- and realized how incredibly incomplete it is. Sure, it tells when he first crawled, what kinds of solid foods he started with, and his favorite song when he was one.... but the important stuff, the everyday stuff- none of that was in there. It made me realize how much I want to record stuff for them to see when they are older, for Brian and I to reread when they are grown with kids of their own. So here are some things off the top of my head that I don't want to forget:

• The way Tanner says "Did it!" with kind of a lispy voice whenever he wants to do something himself or when he was successful doing something himself. Lately it is putting his socks on himself, taking off his pants, and catching a football. When he wants a specific person to notice (and applaud!) it is: "Baba! Did it", "Brother! Did it", "Mama! Did it", or "Dada! Did it".
  
• How glad I am that Jake is at Foothills- if only for this one year. The picture above is a project he did at home this weekend. He told me that he wanted to "reuse" materials to create something. So this is what he came up with. He explained it all to me. It is a McDonalds. The spiders are eating the food and the cracked nutshell is the waiter (I'm not sure which McDonald's HE'S been going to!). The Starbucks cups are the building itself. The nut slides down the chute to serve the food to the spiders. The fact that he did this on his own is HUGE to me. At his old preschool the most creative he ever got was cutting out pictures of ovals (or whatever the "shape of the week" was) and gluing them on white paper.
  
• The way Tanner backs up and says "Go..... go.... go!" before running into your arms, kicking a ball, getting his shirt on, giving high fives, etc...
• The morning Faith woke up at 4AM and fussed on and off until 6:30 when we finally went in there and found that her arms had gotten stuck up in the shoulders of her jammies. She must have been trying to free them that whole time and it looked pretty funny and more than a little bit uncomfortable- but she was no worse for the wear. She still greeted us with a huge smile.
• How Jake uses the word "apparently" to begin sentences these days: Ex: When Faith threw her remaining food on the ground after lunch, Jake commented, "Apparently Faith isn't hungry anymore!"
• Tanner's love of all things tidy: the broom, napkins, scrub brushes.
  
• The way the boys adore their sister and want to help feed her (see picture above), change her, bathe her, and play with her.
• Tanner's crazy dancing and how he likes to run in circles around Milo (as Milo dozes on the floor), get dizzy, then fall down again.
• How Faith flaps her arms when she is excited like she is about to take off.
• Last Sunday when Jake and Brian were watching football and they showed a sweeping view of the stadium with all the players in position and Jake said incredulously, "So, Dad, you mean ALL those football guys have two kidneys?" (Jake only has one kidney and knows that he won't be able to play high school football, so this has been a hot topic lately)
  

Jake- 4 years 8 months, Tanner- 2 years on Wednesday, Faith- 8 1/2 months

Faith- 8 months

Faith learned to pull up to standing this week. She started on the bathtub and quickly progressed to anything else that stands about 18 inches off the ground. She also learned how to get back down- I was quite impressed as I watched her gauge the distance between her butt and the floor, clearly think it over, then decide to take the risk. She plopped right down and looked up at me prouder than proud.

With the holidays coming up I had to get her several Christmas dresses last weekend (which Brian humored me about until he got really tired of chasing after the two boys in the consignment store and asked me to JUST MAKE UP MY MIND ALREADY!)- one of them is an over the top long sleeved, red velvet number with a satin bow in the back which she will wear with white tights and her patent
leathers :) I am SO opposite of the "girl mom" I thought I'd be (much to the amusement of those around me, I am sure!). She is still toothless- and mostly bald- but I am sure she will be a vision in her holiday finery.


I think she is saying words. "Na-na" comes when I am feeding her bananas. "Da-da" is said first thing in the morning when she is laying next to (or crawling all over) her daddy. I know, she is only eight months old and I'm sure it is just coincidental babbling. Still, it is fun to listen to and a huge reminder to slow down and enjoy her babyhood while it lasts!

Some Species Eat Their Young

Those species may have got this parenting thing figured out.

One of the fallouts of Jake attending Kindergarten this year is that he is acting more like a Kindergartener. Go figure.

Actually, if I hadn't compared notes with several other parents with children age 4-6 I would describe his behavior as "pre-teen".

"Whatever" is now a "time out word".
As in, "Jake, please put your shoes away.".

"Whatever!" (often accompanied by a deep sigh and possible eye rolling.)

He continues to entertain (or is the word I am looking for "annoy"?) us with his constant dialogue. I swear this kid never shuts up. Especially in the car. You know that scene in Shrek 2 where Donkey and Shrek and Princess Fiona are driving to "Far Far Away" to visit her parents and Donkey keeps talking and talking and talking and finally Fiona shouts: "Just for five minutes, can't you just stop being YOU!". Let's just say that Brian and I can relate to that scene.

Seriously, though. He has grown up overnight. In good ways, too.

• He is so much more independent and helpful with Tanner and Faith. The other morning Tanner woke up before 7 (the time at which Jake is allowed to come in our room) and we heard him get up and crawl into the crib with Tanner. He proceeded to read book after book to him while saying things like, "Dada is sleeping right now. He'll be in to get you soon, Tanner." (By "read" I mean look at the pictures and recite what he remembers about each book)
  
• He is into taking care of the environment and reminds us to reuse everything, picks up trash on walks to throw away at home, and recycles all that he can. My car is full of empty soda cans and wrappers he has found while running errands.
  
• He is really into football right now. And he plays it like a pro. I swear. You'd think he had lessons or something. He throws with a spiral, catches from across the yard, and loves to "kick off" and "hike" the ball. He can keep score and add each 7 point touchdown (we haven't gotten into the one point conversion thing yet...) to the previous score.
• His latest favorite song is by the Dixie Chicks- "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice". He tells me that he feels the emotions in the song -that parts make him feel sad and ready to cry, parts make him mad, and parts just feel good to shout out at the top of his lungs. We listen to it several times each day on the way to and from school. He tells me that part of the song makes his eyes get teary... and I know exactly what he means.

In all the ways that matter to me he is still little, even when he acts big: He's still my snuggle bug and loves hugs and kisses and sitting on my lap. He doesn't mind when I sing and dance to the songs on the radio, and I've yet to embarrass him in front of his friends. Most importantly, he still thinks his dad and I are the coolest things ever.

For now I think the kid is safe from being ingested.

Piece of Work

We're coming up on Tanner's 2nd birthday. I have to say - he is a boy with a personality. I've said before that he is my Grandpa Simonich reincarnated, and I still believe that. First and foremost, there is the smirk - dead on Grandpa smirk, nobody else in the family has that. This is the look that says, "You can tell me to stop doing this all you want, and I may or may not, but we both know you're really not going to do anything about it, don't we?" I love my boy, but I am terrified that maybe he got more than his fair share of my "eff you" genes. We were driving this last weekend and this song came on the radio. This is, and will be Tanners theme song (I added it to the mp3 player if you want to listen to it - it's the Jimmy Buffett version). Here are the lyrics:

Piece of Work
(Will Kimbrough)

I'm a piece of work, I'm iron and lace
I'm shy, I'm right up in your face
I'm all dumbfounded, stubborn as an ass
Sharp as an arrow in a pile of glass.
I'm a sweetheart, genius, reckless jerk.
Lord, have mercy, I'm a piece of work.

Well the Lord made me on a long thin limb
Made sure I'd remember him or her
In the middle of a long dark night
Creation crazy, death-sheet white
Made in the image of a lion shocked lamb
I am who the hell I am
Even better, bad to worse,
Down to the letter, I'm a piece of work.

I'm a piece of work I'm an angels fiend
Bathed in lavender and gasoline
Scared brave, shallow in an ink black well
Lightly browned in the fires of hell
Wicked, holy, full on fake
Best known for my big mistake
I'm zen wise, peaceful, gone berserk
Good God almighty, What a piece of work.

I'm a dreadful sight, I just don't care
Spent all morning pull out my hair
Woke at dawn with a crazy spin
I was half the day trying to glue back in
Mother, bloody mary, please
Wipe that smile right off your knees
I'm the CEO of the mailroom clerks
Lord have mercy, I'm a piece of work.

I'm a piece of work, I'm a love sick boy
Cloth cap, caviar, and corduroy
All over the map, justa lost in space
With a filthy mind and a choirboy's face
Heels up, head down, straight on through
Watch out woman, I'm a get to you
I'm a gladiator with a mind to irk
I'm a see you later, I'm a piece of work.

Happy almost 2nd birthday buddy. I Love You. (P.S...you scare the crap out of me!) - Dad

Dinosaurs, Superheroes and Vegetables, oh my....

After us "Non-Professional" Trick or Treaters had our fill, we came home to do the philanthropic work of the handing out of the candy. Tanner and I came home and got him into jammies in between answering the door bell. Tanner didn't quite get it at first, but was very curious. Once he got in the swing of things, he had a lot of fun. The routine had to be as follows: we would sit on the couch and watch an episode of Magic School Bus (as far as kids shows go...not TOO bad) until either the doorbell rang, or Tanner spotted someone from his seat. I would then get up and answer the door. He would come up right behind me a little slowly, if the costumes were not too scary (if they were scary, he would watch from the family room). He would check out the costumes, and once he could tell that the candy had been dispensed and the interaction was at an end, would very loudly announce, "BYE" and slam the door in their faces. Then he would run back to the couch and point at my spot and say (equally loudly), "Dada, Dada, Dada" while pointing where I was supposed to sit....and the parade would begin again. We did this for an hour or so, after which I took him to bed, not be heard from again until this morning.

The other photo above is one of the few we have been able to get of him lately. He has begun to love the camera, not being in front of it, but looking thru it, so it has been difficult, at best, to get him to hold still. He is just a blast to be around and is starting to follow in his big brothers foot steps, playing both baseball and football. He is VERY proud of himself when he catches the ball or get's a hit....he stands and preens and yells, "Mama, mama, mama", non-stop, until you say "Good Job Tanner" at which point he lines up to do it again.

Trick or Treat

Faith was just about the sweetest ear of corn I've ever seen. Tanner loved his dinosaur costume,despite being unable to walk in the "claws", and Jake enjoyed throwing make believe spider webs at all passersby while trick or treating last night. Thank goodness my mom was here- we definitely needed the extra pair of hands while getting them all ready, pictures taken, and out and about for the festivities. We had to divide and conquer: I took Jake, Brian had Tanner, and my mom wheeled Faith around in the stroller. After going around the block with all 6 of us, Jake and I joined up with another family in the neighborhood to continue the serious trick-or-treating while Brian and Tanner went home to answer the door and hand out candy and mom took Faith home and put her to sleep.

Jake loved running from house to house while my friend and I kept toasty warm with the hot toddies, hot cocoa, and hot cider that many houses were handing out to the adults. Best quote of the night? Overheard from a father: "Time is candy, Josh. Let's keep moving!" The kids were out in the hundreds (literally). Though warmer than last year, it was down to 35 by the time we got home a little before 9 and Jake and I were both ready to cuddle up under a blanket. Jake dumped out his candy and Brian, mom, and I laid claim to our favorites while he dove in for a few more bites before bed.

Pumpkins, Pig Races, and Popcorn

We made our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch. This year Grandma Cori was able to come with us, so the girls all watched the pig races while the boys played in the popcorn bin, jumping pillow, and cow tractor.

Faith is crawling on all fours now and, as you can see, gets herself in lots of tight spots.She has discovered the power of crying and is thrilled to death when her screams- which, by the way, sound like someone is pulling her fingernails out one by one- bring mom or dad to her room at 4AM.
We are OK with the "crying it out" thing, but three hours is a lot to bear. Usually she is happy as a clam though, and has smiles for everyone around her.

Tanner has four fangs. Seriously, the kid looks like a vampire right now. He has learned to say, "I love you" and when you ask him, "Do you know how much Mommy loves you?" he answers with an adorable, "I knooooooooow!". I wish I could record it and put it on the blog so I could listen to it when he is 16 and I want to kill him for staying out all night without phoning.

Jake loves his school. He comes home talking about new yoga poses he's learned, explaining what "cadence" and "tempo" are, and showing us his new football moves. He's exhausted at the end of each day, which makes bedtime much easier. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow on school nights. Weekends continue to be a different story...

There are lots of days when Brian and I (as a coping mechanism) remind each other that this trying period won't last forever, and too often we find ourselves yearning for the years ahead when they are all a bit older and (hopefully) easier. But there have been a lot more moments in recent weeks when we crank up the iPod and embrace the chaos, knowing all too well that this won't last forever.

Life Just Got More Interesting

Faith is crawling.
Not in the traditional sense of the word- on hands and knees, chugging forward gracefully.
No, Faith crawls like an inch worm. She is quite a sight to see.
She starts on all fours, pitches her upper body forward, lands on her chest, rolls to her head, then pulls her knees up and starts all over again. As ungainly and uncomfortable as it looks, she moves quickly from one room to another, much to the delight of her two brothers who watch her and squeal, "Mom! Look! Look at Faithy!" or, in Tanner's case, "BABY!! Mama, BABY!!" They are both so obviously proud of their little sister.

First Fish

Jake caught his first fish this morning! We set out at the crack of dawn (after the Mickey D's, of course) and went to Quinn's Pond in Boise. This is a little pond right in the middle of town, literally about 10 minutes from our house. The State of Idaho Fish & Game has a family fishing program and there are little stocked ponds all over the state so little trips like this are really easy and fun.

Jake knew that we were going last night. The plan was to leave early this morning and sneak out before Mom, Tanner and Faith woke up. To that end, Jake woke me up at 1:30 AM, asking if it was time to go fishing yet. He couldn't go back to sleep and spent the rest of the night in our bed. He was wide awake again at 5:00 AM asking if it was time to go yet. I managed to hold him off until 5:45 AM before I got up with him so Marisa could try to get a little more sleep and we set off at o' dark thirty. It was still pitch black when we got to the pond, at which point it was explained to me by Jake that it was my fault it wasn't light yet and that it was so cold outside. We came back home (again, not that far away) and got some mittens for him and set back out.

It was a beautiful morning, crisp and clear, about 40 degrees out. We sat on the dock and fished for about an hour before Mr. Attention Span had had enough and then we came back home. It was a really low impact trip, maybe we'll head back tomorrow!

Weather is Here... Wish it was Beautiful

We spent our anniversary weekend up at Redfish Lake. Despite the less-than-stellar weather conditions (it rained both days, had thunderstorms both nights, and actually snowed on our way home!) we had a great time. It's kind of a cool "old time" family camp with cabins, a lodge, a restaurant, boat dock, and general store. We enjoyed breakfast in the lodge both mornings, looking out over the dock (see the black and white photo above), took walks on the many bike paths, and fished during the day. The sun came out from about 4-7 on Saturday so we rented a canoe and took turns paddling around the lake with Jake while Faith hung out on shore and Tanner got filthy dirty and soaking wet on the beach. Nights were cozy (once everyone finally fell asleep!) and the kids slept late both mornings. Our drive home was accompanied by a CD Brian had made for me for our anniversary that was copied from a tape he made me on one of our first dates, 7 1/2 years ago. It was fun to remember the days of our relationship pre-children and to enjoy the family we have created together. We will definitely go back next summer- hopefully wearing shorts instead of winter coats and hats!

"Do As I Say Not As I Do" .

Jake started an annoying (and disrespectful) habit this weekend of "threatening" us whenever we didn't do something he wanted. Here's an example:

"Mom, can I have some more juice?"
"Sorry, Jake, but you've had enough sugar today. I can get you some water if you want."
"If you don't get me some juice I AM GOING TO KICK YOU IN THE KNEES!" (Or "in the penis" if he was speaking to Brian.) Other variations included: throwing a book at us, hitting us with a bat, etc...
Charming, don't you think?

So, starting out with "effective parenting techniques" we had a discussion about threats and why they aren't OK and better ways to handle your anger, etc... etc.. ad nauseum. But it kept happening, despite time outs, logical consequences, you name it. We were completely fed up and frustrated. So at one point I said (loudly) "Jake, if you don't stop it I am going to spank you!" Note two things: One, I have never spanked this child and don't really believe in it. Two, it was probably an empty (yes, you named it...) THREAT.

Did Jake let this less than proud parenting moment slide? No. Of course not. This is what he said:

"Mom, you are the adult. You are supposed to be setting a good example for me. You and Dad have been telling me not to threaten you but YOU just threatened ME! How is that a good example? How am I supposed to learn?" That's verbatim- said with extreme sanctimony.

He may be smart, but his self preservation instinct is clearly not his strong suit.

Fishing Trip

Properly licensed and everything, Jake I went out fishing for the first time for real this morning. We went, literally, down the street to the Boise River after a real fisherman's breakfast at the Micky D's.

The river is so easy to get to, and there are miles of trails up and down both sides, so it was a pretty low impact trek, but much more along the lines of what I expected for our first real fishing trip. There was some impatience with the process, some snags, some lost gear, a few close calls (for me) with some hooks on hyperactive back-casts, and no fish. I didn't manage to get my pole in the water, but it was fun to watch Jake experience his first trip. His main impression was that the bait smelled bad.

You could see the fish jumping as we fished both sides of the river and the small pond there, but caught more sticks and moss than fish. I am positive that if I could have gotten a rod in the water we could have caught something, but I spent most of my time untangling, retreiving hooks that were launched into trees, re-baiting when the bait was flung out into the middle of the river because he forgot to let go of the reel and the line snapped back, and mainly getting a good, religious Sunday morning dose of fatherly patience (something I admit I don't generally have in large reserve), but I did really well this morning.

I don't know if it was just the Jake/Daddy time, if it was being up and out early on a Sunday, listening to the bluegrass station in the truck, or if it was being out on the water while the sun rose in the sky fishing, but despite all the above I had a really good time and am gearing up to go next weekend up in Stanley on the lake. Let you know how that goes then....

The dangers of hanging out under Tanner's chair...

...sometimes you get Ramen noodles dropped on your head.

You say tomato.....

"Ah bee ah beez!" This is Tanner speak for just about everything. Usually it means, "What's that?" but sometimes, if accompanied by a delighted shrieking sound and a finger pointing at food you are currently eating it can mean, "I want some of that!". Actually, ever since he discovered how to say "bird poop" his vocabulary has increased by leaps and bounds. He repeats everything we say and even though only a trained ear could understand it, he says "fist bump", "high five", and "hug" (our routine at bedtime). The other morning I got Faith up- which always causes a loud and excited rendition of " BABY!! BABY!! BABY!!" from Tanner. I laid her down to change her diaper and said casually that she was poopy. He literally ran over, grabbed a diaper, wipes, and cream, sat down beside me and began to wipe her bottom and spread on cream (no matter that it wasn't open). He is infatuated with a book that we have that has pictures of a dog in it and a grandma. He points to each page and says "doggy" and "nana" incessantly. He can do this over and over and over and over. We may need to hide that book soon to keep our sanity! He loves to push his lawnmower around and tonight on our evening walk/bike ride he insisted on pushing it. We didn't get very far as he was trying to eat a candy cane, push the lawnmower, and pick up every fallen leaf he saw. We are concerned about evening walks once the leaves really start to cover the ground :)

Faith had her six month check up this week and was declared to be "perfect" by her doctor. She is tall (27 inches) and weighs 14 pounds. She smiled for everyone and only cried when they did her shots. She is trying so hard to crawl- she gets up on all fours and rocks, then gingerly tries to move one knee forward before collapsing onto her belly or head and starting over again. She babbles, loves Baby Mmm Mmm's (an Idaho baby treat that we discovered with Tanner last year), and is getting a little more fuzzy hair on her head. Her daddy calls her "fuzzcicle".

Jake is settling in really well at Foothills. He has become very comfortable there and has made lots of friends. Yesterday he went on his first "lunch out" (each class goes out to eat once a week at our school) and tomorrow has his first library visit (the Boise library is across the street). He has yoga, art, spanish, and music weekly. It's pretty cool. I love having him there and getting to have a little one-on-one time each morning. Knock on wood and everything else, Jake has been going to sleep a little easier the last few nights, although a complete nights sleep is still not on the mommy and daddy menu. He still comes in to our room at some point each night for one thing or another. It has been: 1. a drink the first night, 2. to be re-covered up the second night, 3. and last night because he wanted to give daddy a kiss on the arm. Normally, you can hear his footsteps when he comes padding down the hall, but sometimes he sneaks in like a midget ninja and is just standing next to the bed when you open your eyes. As Brian sleeps on the side of the bed by the door, I am a little afraid that Jake will give him a heart attack some night (it's just like The Shining...)

As for me, I am adjusting well to the school year. Working 85% is heavenly- I drop Jake off M-TH at 8:30 then drive to the gym (3 minutes away) to work out and shower. Sometimes I stop for a cup of coffee. It's great because it allows me some alone time and also makes my mornings easier since I don't have to get myself ready in the AM- I just throw on some workout clothes and can concentrate on feeding, dressing, and playing with the kids. My students are much more normal this year. No one is in equine therapy yet. I am enjoying the school so much more this year. The new leadership has made a huge difference in morale and being able to call most of my colleagues "friends" again is huge. Riding out the bumps last year was hard, but worth it.

Updates

Some updates on the blog. The MP3 player is there for your enjoyment. It is our MP3 files hosted at an off site server, so nothing weird will happen if you click it. We picked some songs that we liked that we thought you might enjoy while you read. We will change them from time to time for variety and thematic sake!

We also have our new fall colors. The leaves are already turning here and the 100+ temperatures seem to be yesterdays news. Looking forward to the changing seasons once again.

Enjoy the changes, as always, all feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading!

Hittin' the Road

Faith is finally old enough to ride in the bike trailer with Tanner, so we took off this morning for our first family ride. After weeks of resisting it, Jake loved riding on his trail-a-long and T and F just chilled out in the trailer and enjoyed the scenery. Fall is just starting here (it got down to 41 degrees last night!) and the chill in the air made our morning ride so enjoyable. We rode out behind our house through farmlands. Faith fell asleep a half hour into the ride and Tanner let us know by "Shh-ing" us and pointing at Faith. We are heading to the "real" Redfish Lake in two weeks for our anniversary and are so excited that we can bike around the lake with the kids.

PS. Can you believe this is how old Tanner was when we moved here last year and we found out Faith was on the way???? Crazy.

Manhattan (Sleep) Project

Jake's on-going, repeated and cyclical issues with sleep (going to, falling, staying etc.) have made Marisa and I quite the pre-schooler research scientists. We are constantly looking for causation, patterns, alternative methodologies to get him to go to sleep so we can watch some G*d#mm%d "Prison Break" and have some kind of life together outside of, "Do you smell something?" "Where is (insert name here)" and "Can you please get (insert name here) I've got my hands full and you are just sitting there doing nothing.".

Along the way, we have learned to function on severely reduced sleep, to instinctively take over when the other is close to infanticide and generally cope with the fact that the odds of getting all of the kids to sleep on time and for them to sleep through the night at the same time are roughly the same as being attacked by a shark that is being struck by lightning.

Along those lines, another bedtime change. We were recently given a double bed, which was the plan for the boys down the line, they would each have their own double bed. Jake has cycled back to Armageddon-like bedtime struggles and one of the openings that our trained scientific ears heard was that he said he thought he would sleep better if he and Tanner shared the big bed. We had been toying with the idea of moving Tanner out of his crib for awhile now (needing it as we do for the baby-Jesus, even that sentence is crazy!) and figured that as long as bedtime sucks right now anyway, we might as well kill two birds with one stone. It makes no sense to get Jake to the point where he goes to bed easily and then to move Tanner and start all over again. So we jumped in and moved Tanner and Jake into the big bed as shown in the photo.

We are on our fourth night or so and it's getting easier. Jake is going to bed easier, although part of Tanner's nightime routine is hitting Jake in the head repeatedly, and Tanner likes the new bed. One of his consequences for the aformentioned hitting is being put back in his crib, which makes him cry. When you ask him if he wants to go back in the big bed, he points towards it, puts his binky in his mouth, grabs his stuffed monkey, and says "da". He is still getting used to getting himself to fall asleep in it with Jake, and Marisa has taken to laying between them until they both fall asleep, which allows me to write basically whatever I want, unchecked, on the blog. Tomorrow, my opinons on abortion, legalization of marijuana and who I think killed Kennedy....stay tuned.

Kindergarten Bound

After much debate we decided to take Jake out of his preschool/daycare and try him at Foothills with me. Being as this decision was made last minute, there were no more openings in the early learners program so we started him in their Primary program- which is a K-1 classroom. We enrolled him with the intention of him completing a Kindergarten year at Foothills then a "real" year of K at the public school next year. He was really excited to come to "mommy's school" and although he had some sadness at leaving his friends and teachers in daycare, he mostly was feeling positive.

His last day of daycare was so special. His teachers all expressed their joy at having had him there and their sadness at his leaving. He has always had a special place in his teachers hearts and this has never been more evident than on Friday. Miss Pam ( the tough Southern lady that even scares me a little) gave him a huge bag of gifts and cried. At naptime Jake asked Rhonda (the owner) if he would be allowed to come back if it turned out he didn't like Kindergarten. She took his face in her hands and assured him that he would always have a home there. More tears were shed. Despite the fact that I wasn't thrilled with their pre-k program, I never had any doubt that he was very loved and I am so glad Tanner and Faith are still there to grow with that loving care.

He has had a great first week at Foothills. Although he is smaller than most of the other students he fits right in. He is in the classroom right next door (and I use the term "door" loosely as the school has no real doors between rooms...) so I can stop by and have snack with him each day or participate in read aloud or art, etc... So far I am loving it and I think Jake is, too. I had a lot of anxiety about the move and it became obvious that I was pestering him too much about his feelings about the change because on Day 2 he finally looked at me and said quite matter-of-factly, "Mom, I'm not sad. I'm not upset. I'm just really tired!" I took that as my hint to back off :) Carry on, Little Man.

(On a similar note, Tanne was moved into the toddler room today. We all feared he would take it hard, not being one that embraces change easily. But he proved us wrong. He participated in circle time, slept on his mat, ate at the table, and generally was amenable to all the changes this brought to his day. We are both really proud of our guy.)

Wildfire Summer

One thing that I didn't think about when moving here was the fire danger in this part of the country (especially with global warming, sorry republicans - but yes it does exist!). There have been fires all summer, mainly out of our part of the state, some in UT, up in the Ketchum and McCall area. But Thursday it was our turn.

The fire in the picture is right behind Hidden Springs. The brick building in the picture is the Merc, and if you haven't been here to visit us yet, the black roof that you can see over the top of the Merc is ours. The fire burned for most of Thursday afternoon, over 100 acres up in the hills. There were ground crews, two helicopters and two bombers figting it for most of the day. You can see the house it got closest to up on the hill in the picture.

Our nieghborhood was never in real danger. In fact I sat on our friends swingset down the street in the afternoon with my buddy Greg watching the helicopters pick up buckets of water from the ranch across the street to dump on the fire line, as did most of the folks on our street. It was interesting and a reminder that eventhough we live in the biggest city in the state, we're still just a little speck in the wilderness up here.