Activities with Dad

Jake, Tanner, and Brian started our garden today. Apparently some of the vegetables need to be started indoors, then moved outside come Spring so they planted some of the seeds in this little plastic container thingy that is now a makeshift table centerpiece. Tanner lost interest quickly, but Jake was really into it. They planted onions, two kinds of tomatoes, basil, cantelopes, and zuchinni. The compost is going well and Brian has been really good about getting the plot of our yard ready for planting in a few weeks. Since I seem to kill any plant I have ever had (could have something to do with my lack of attention to details- like watering....) I will be anxious to see if the boys can get this garden to take off. If we do get to make fresh veggie pizzas, fresh salsa, and garden fresh omelettes this summer I have no doubt it will be "despite me" not "because of me".

The boys also played their first flag football game. Sort of. It was only the three of them. Tanner's belt had to be wrapped around his waist three times- and even then it was falling off of him. It was Brian and Tanner vs. Mom and Jake. Jake's getting really good at catching the ball and running with it, but doesn't like to give up the glory by letting mom score any touchdowns- even when Dad is clearly going to grab a flag. Faith was sick, so she missed our game, preferring to lay on the couch surrounded by her animals watching (what else?) Dora.

Faith and her Baby Horsies

I know, logically, that if we had bought as many toy pigs or goats or elephants as we have horses, that she would probably have an interest in one of those animals, but it is so cute how attached she is to her horsies. She literally has a herd of them. She plays with them in her room, putting them to bed in their stable and waking them up. She tries to ride them and sits on them saying "Giddyup! Giddyup!" She puts them on her truck and "takes them to Mommy's house". She drags them all downstairs and sits with them while watching Dora or Diego. She calls them all "her baby horsies". If she is sad or upset about something the first thing her brothers do is bring her the baby horsey herd.

Jake's Birthday

We had ten boys to Gem State Gymnastics for Jake's party over the weekend. It was a lot of fun- there were trampolines and bouncy houses, swinging ropes and a pit full of foam that the kids could jump into. It was pretty much "free play" for an hour on all the equipment. Brian and I had our hands full keeping Tanner and Faith out of harm's way. Faith almost got nailed by one of the kids on the swinging rope thingy. She loved the balance beam and spent most of her time scooting along that and playing on the indoor playground slide. Tanner did everything the big kids did. After cake and presents we took two of Jake's friends out to dinner with us, then had one of them spend the night. We had movie night with Madagascar 2 and pancakes for breakfast.

On his real birthday we had dinner over at the Merc with Grandma. He opened his presents there. He got several Wii games and some football/basketball shirts. He was enthusiastic about everything and came home to try out the MLB Wii game before bed. The flag football set that Brian picked up at the last minute was the big hit, though. He's now ready to host 10 person flag football games on the green across from the Merc on Friday Nights this summer. He also got his first cup- which he thought was pretty funny- , a "real" football, and a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids.

At bedtime I told him all about the night he was born and sang him the first song I ever sang to him(Irish Lullabye). That's when he popped the question: "Mom, how DO babies get born anyway?". I told him how he and his brother and sister were born (cutting open my tummy). Then he asked how most babies are born. So, I told him all about it. He giggled, looked a little embarrassed and said, "Mom.... that is REALLY weird!".

He is smart and funny and warm hearted. He loves Sportscenter and books , music and Wii, four square and cheeseburgers. He has lots of friends, is willing to try new things on his own, and is one of the sweetest people I know. I am lucky to be his Mom and even when he is trying my every last nerve I am so proud of the person he is becoming.

Kids Toys

It's pretty easy to see why American children are having so much trouble in the global marketplace of science and technology....the toys. Jake got a bunch of stuff at his 6th birthday yesterday (Marisa will write about the party later), but one of the gifts was a marble rollercoaster contraption that he really wanted us to build today. 

The box said for kids six and up, but it's also an Italian toy, so that must mean six year olds who understand the metric system and plan to grow up and design new Ferarri engines. It's an AWESOME toy (says the 40 year old)! The instructions were 12 pages or so, it's got these amazing cable systems with clamps and pulleys, and you need to make all sorts of minute adjustments to get the thing to work with the different wieghts of marbles that it comes with. It teaches design and engineering concepts, encourages fine motor skills, direction following, cause and effect, and to a certain extent, the beginning principles of physics.

The kids (Jake, his friend Sean who slept over, and Tanner) spent about 5 minutes total "helping" me try to build it, before they lost interest. Then they played slam dunk, four square and football while I finished it up. Once you make all of the adjustments, even then, they have to be careful rolling the marble, because if they don't stay at the precise speed the thing is tuned for they go flying off the track. It really is a pity they don't make these things for adults, because a lot of the grown-up guys who read this blog (you know who you are) would have wanted them after putting it together (I know I have already hit the website). Plus, the damn thing glows in the dark!

Trip to Gold Fork Hotsprings

This was one of those rare weekends where we didn't have anything to do either day. Faith's birthday was on Friday and then....no ski lessons, no playdates, no social events, no sports stuff, no nothin'. Well we weren't exactly sure how to deal with that (you mean stay at home with all three kids, all weekend long....yeah right!)  so we decided to hit the road.

The majority of the State of Idaho is over geothermal hot beds, so there are natural hot springs everywhere. Some are private, some are in National Parks etc., but we've never been and you know in all those activity books for kids, they all mention taking the young'uns out to the hotsprings. So we loaded up the Suburban (damn the energy crisis!) and headed north into the mountains. 

Gold Fork Hotsprings is outside (meaning waaaay outside in the hills) of Donnelly,

 which is an hour and a half drive from here usually. About 1/2 hour out of town Faith threw up everywhere, carseat, clothes, blankets etc. She was perfectly happy, just covered with vomit. We stopped at

 the side of the river and cleaned her

 up, but had neglected to bring a change of clothes (we usually don't remember the diaper bag either) so that's why she has no pants on in the picture, outside, in 24 degree weather. A little while later we had to stop so Tanner could go the bathroom in the snow (look Dad, it's like a lemon snow cone), and then again so Jake could go (no snow cone this time, we had to find a gas station). So roughly three hours later we got to the turn off for the hotsprings, which really just began the journey. 

We had to drive probably 6-7 miles down a one lane, snow covered road out into the middle of nowhere to get to the place. I started to think the entire thing was a scam and we were going to round the next bend into a hillbilly camp, whereupon we would be robbed of all our wordly possesions and sent off into the snowy wilds to try to find our way back to society. But eventually we found it. 

It was really neat, the hottest pool was over 105 (hotter than most hottubs) and way too hot for comfort, but as the pools (there were 5) cascaded further away from the source they got progressively cooler. The main pool was probably 102 or so and was huge, like a swimming pool with rocks and boulders and snow all around. We only went into one other pool which was

 cooler, but shallower, so

 the kids liked it, but eventually Marisa and I were able to talk them back into the bigger pool.

We only stayed for an hour or so, and the little ones slept parts of the (much quicker) drive home. So a great trip all around (if I can get the vomit smell out of my car...) and another Idaho landmark to check off our "to-do travel" list. We really had a good time, so next time you visit, don't be surprised if we suggest it.....

Faith Turns 2

I turned on the evening news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turning 102 today.
They asked him what's the secret to life.
He looked up from his old pipe,
Laughed and said, "All I can say is...
Don't Blink"
- Kenny Chesney


It doesn't seem possible that this little girl- this little surprise of ours- has been with us for two years already! She is usually very even tempered and fun to be around. She entertains herself really well. Currently one of her favorite games is playing "Parking Garage" in which she drives all of our ride on toys in our living room (5- believe it or not!) and parks them in another place. Lately she has started standing on each of them, putting her arms out, and yelling "Me skateboarding!!", then jumping off. She loves puzzles and books and copying her brothers' every move. She can be feisty and stubborn but is also such a little snuggler. She loves listening (and singing) to music, dancing, and playing all the sports that her brothers play. She loves to color and will happily sit at the table for long stretches with her crayons and markers. Of course, she's not an angel. She's TWO so her favorite phrases are "Me do it!" and "NO!".

We got her a rocking pony for her main birthday present and she is quite enamored with it. She named it "Rocket" and climbs on and off herself (many, many times in the last 24 hours). She got lots of clothes, a Baby Jaguar doll from Jake (which made 8 stuffies in her bed last night), several books, and a stick horse from Nana. Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary gave her a table and chairs for her bedroom which is designed like an old fashioned ice cream parlor table. She loves it all. Her birthday cake was (what else?) a horse theme. She didn't actually eat a piece of cake. Instead, she kept taking the plastic horse, dipping it into the frosting, licking its feet, then repeating the process over and over. Jake videotaped all of the festivities, narrating like a pro.

I'm going to try really hard not to blink this year- she is growing up way too fast!

Into the home stretch...

As we start to wind down the school year, we are getting started early on the end of the year events. Last night was Jake's last Chess Club Tournament and pizza party. He loves to play chess, but as it gets warmer and warmer out, he is trying to get through his matches faster and faster (not caring whether he wins or loses) so he can go outside and play four square in between match start times.

He still loves to play chess, and says he wants to do chess club next year, but he also says he wants to play football and hockey and basketball and lacrosse and snowboarding. We recently talked to Jake's pediatrician about his kidney issue, and he feels that there is no danger to Jake's kidney from contact sports. Come to find out, amazingly enough, the number one cause of kidney damage after auto accidents is.....sledding. Jake was a champ when we first explained to him (in error, as it turns out) that he couldn't play contact sports, so now that he knows he can, he is off and roaring.

Just for fun....Faith

Faith at a couple of hours and then almost 2.

Just for fun.....Tanner

Tanner at 8 months and then at 3+ years old.

Just for fun....Jake

Since Faithy's 2nd birthday is on Friday and they are growing up waaaay too fast. Jake at 6 months and almost 6 years old.

Some More Things to Remember

Tanner's current favorite songs:

• The Boys Are Back in Town- Thin Lizzy
  


• Don't Blink- Brad Paisley
  


• Help Me Rhonda- The Beach Boys
  

Movie Night:
Movie Night on Saturday was a big hit. The kids all laid on the floor with stuffies and a blanket and watched "Horton Hears a Who". It was the first time we played a movie from beginning to end with attention held by all three.

The Slam Dunk Reenactment:

The boys watched the "Slam Dunk Contest" (NBA) and then for weeks after replicated the winning dunks. Tanner was Nate Robinson and Jake was Dwight Howard. If you saw the pros dunk, this makes a pretty funny picture.

Faith's Singing:

Faith sings several lines from all the songs from "Mama Mia. She also loves "Don't Blink" but probably only because her idol (that would be Tanner) wants to listen to it constantly.

Jake's Recycling Discovery:
For awhile now Brian and I have been surreptitiously throwing some of Jake's Kindergarten work into the recycling bin. We keep the good stuff, but there's so much that is meaningless: dot-to-dots, math worksheets, etc.... But we knew it would bother him if he knew about it. Well, the jig is up. Tonight Brian asked Jake to take out a cardboard box. He was gone for a long time- so long that we were about to go out looking for him- when he walked into the kitchen with an absolutely devastated look on his face holding about a dozen of his papers in his hands. He burst into tears and said things like, "I work SO hard at school and you THROW it away???". Drama King that he is, it went on for some time- even after we had told him about the fact that we don't have enough drawer space, that we need to take care of our earth and save trees, etc... I don't think a dollar will be enough for the therapy jar for this one- I'm putting in a five.

Faith's Bedtime:
Faith crinkles up her nose, squeezes her eyes shut, and says, "ME!" when I ask her, "Who does Mommy love?" and "Who's Mama's best girl?"- our little bedtime ritual.

Tanner's Enthusiasm about Preschool:

We signed him up to start preschool next year at the school next door to our house. Literally, the playground is right next to our backyard. He is so excited to start (in August). He points it out to everyone and showed our guests the flyer they sent us. He and Brian went to an Open House there while I was up skiing with Jake last weekend and he couldn't wait to take me to look in the windows when I got home.

Skiing with Jake:

After his lesson on Saturday we hit the slopes together. I loved riding on the lift with him and playing "Follow the Leader" down the mountain. It truly gave me an indication of things to come- enjoying activities together as a family on a whole different level.

A House Full of Kids:

A friend of mine (the mother of one of Jake's friends) is going back to school to get her teaching credential. She is a single mom and knowing she could use some help, Brian and I volunteered to pick up her THREE boys from school each Tuesday and watch them until she got home at 5:30.

Jake loves it. The boys are K, 2nd grade, and 8th grade. They spend all afternoon playing Four Square, Basketball, and hockey. This Tuesday was an early release and so we volunteered to pick up three additional boys and keep them for awhile. We had 8 boys in our house for several hours- it was great! The Peterson household was always the place to hang out after school when I was growing up and I'd love to be that household here.

Day on the Slopes - Jake

Jake, on the other hand (pun not intended), did awesome. He went for his 3rd ski lesson, and rode the chairlift up and came down the coaches run all day. He was turning back and forth across the slope, speeding up and slowing down, and just looked like he was doing great and having a blast.

His instructor says he is doing great and that they might go up one of the bigger slopes next time. After his lesson we went snowboarding (well he did), and did great at that as well. He seemed concern that I hurt myself, but come to find out that his main concern was whether or not I could still play football with him.

Day on the Slopes - Dad

Okay, so this is a picture of a broken arm. Before we get started with this update, we're going to play a quick game of "guess who's injured?"

1. Our contestant recently turned 40 years old, which people keep telling me, "isn't young anymore"

2. Our contestant just started snowboarding last weekend, and took the instructors praise a little too seriously.

3. Our contestant is a whole lot bit of an idiot, as evidenced by:

-Snowboarding for the second time on snow conditions described as "hard packed"

- Trying to see if he was able to perform a "quick stop" on basically a sheet of ice.

- Falling in the textbook manner in which he was instructed NOT to fall.

- After crashing and, as it turns out, breaking his arm, he:

-went up for four more runs, while wondering why his forearm bruised so quickly

-walked back to the car and stored his snowbaord gear

- walked back to the lodge and picked up Jake, carryng him down the stairs

- walked back to the car, carrying all of Jake's ski gear.

- lifted Jake into the car and changed his ski boots for snowboard boots

- carried Jake's snowboard back to the lodge

- got lunch for himself and Jake and sat down and ate

- took Jake out on the slope for an hour or so and showed him how to snowboard

-manually pulled Jake up the coaching slope four times for runs down so he could practice

-carried Jake's snowboard back to the car

-drove 45 minutes back down the winding mountain home

-fixed a snack

-watched some TV

-changed clothes

-THEN decided that a trip to the ER was probably a good idea

Who is our mystery contestant? I don't really have to answer that now, do I?

Snowboarding 101

I am embarrassed to admit I never even made it on the "flying carpet" to the top of the learning slope. Never even put my back foot in! The instructor tried hard, but I finally just told him to give up on me, focus on Brian, get him through the basics and leave me to it on the not-even-a-bunny-slope. I spent the rest of the hour trekking up the little hill, sliding back down- trying really hard to avoid pedestrians- falling on my ass, then trekking back up again. I know it doesn't sound like fun, but since it was only an hour, and I was able to watch Brian and Jake in their lessons at the same time, it was actually a good time. But, no, I won't be doing it again. When the instructor left Brian at the top of the hill and boarded past me, he stopped and told me not to be discouraged because (and I quote....) "Brian is an exceptionally fast learner. Most students are just like you." OK.... that made me feel a little better. So, as expected, Brian is heading to Play it Again Sports to spend a bit of our tax return on a "new" snowboard while I head to my yoga class- someplace I feel a lot less like a heffalump and a lot more graceful.

Sleeping Arrangements

I have to admit that taking down Faith's crib this weekend was a little emotional for me. All three of our children slept in it and to me getting rid of it was such a symbol of the kids growing up. As happy as I am that daily life is getting easier and easier everyday, there is a part of me that isn't ready to "say goodbye" to the baby phase of my life.

Still, Faith was overjoyed by the transition. As soon as the bed was built she climbed right up, snuggled under the covers, and stayed there playing and listening to her music all through her naptime. 2.5 hours later we gave up on her actually falling asleep and just got her up. At bedtime she again crawled right in, sprawled out, and passed out until morning.

She awoke without the usual welts on her forehead, previously caused by pressing up against the side of the crib after being curled up into a little ball in the corner. She goes to sleep with a full menagerie still, each day adding new animals to the mix. The first three nights in the big girl bed have gone great.....I'm just wondering how many days of this we have until she figures out that she can get in and out of the bed by herself and we find ourselves barricading her bedroom door as she screams herself to sleep and throws soggy diapers at us (aka her biggest brother)

Tanner has also been sleeping in his

own bed for the last week. He prefers to sleep with Jake, but after a continued theme of naughtiness at bedtime, we had to make a new rule: Tanner gets one chance. If he messes around, bothers Jake, or causes a ruckus of any kind, he moves to his bed for the rest of the night. He doesn't like it, but hasn't figured out that the way to stay in Jake's bed is all within his control. It is really cute to listen to them after I put them to bed. I stand on the stairs out of their sight sometimes. The other night Tanner rolled over and said, "Jake, I love you!" and Jake answered back, "I love you, too, Tanner. Sleep tight! I'll see you in the morning."

On a funny but "Should we be letting this happen?" note....our mornings have begun lately with "bathroom talk" between the boys. (Germaphobes please stop reading here) Apparently when Jake gets up to go potty at 6:30ish Tanner wants to come with him. So Jake has taken to bringing Tanner a blanket and he camps out on the bathroom floor while Jake does his business. They just chat and chat in there, which we can hear highlights of from our bedroom. It is hysterical to listen to.

A Day of Firsts

Jake had his first ski lesson yesterday. He has been so excited to get started but I had my concerns that he would actually enjoy it since he tends to not like the cold. Brian and I were so proud of him- he just got his gear, walked into the Mogul Mouse Ski School at Bogus Basin and waved goodbye as he walked in to join his teacher and class. I am constinually amazed at his ability to try new things. We watched from the lodge for awhile, then went outside to the mini-hill to see up close. We couldn't tell if he was having fun or not- it looked like hard work and it also looked pretty frustrating! There were no smiles to be had. He takes to sports so easily, I was worried he would have one of those, "If it's not easy I don't want to do it!" kind of reactions.

When we went back to the lodge to pick him up at lunchtime his instructor walked him out and Jake was sobbing. I thought that was it- skiing was not going to work out. Turned out his tooth had just fallen out- his first one! It was bleeding a lot and he was a little scared. His instructor (bless his heart) was actually holding the bloody little thing and while I carefully washed it and put it in my change purse, Brian got Jake cleaned up and calmed down. Turns out he LOVED his lesson and can't wait to go back. Brian and I set up a snowboarding lesson for Valentine's Day (while Jake is at his second lesson). If i know my husband, I am sure we will be heading to the "end of the season" snowboard sales by mid-March.

The tooth fairy came last night- although Jake did not want the tooth under his pillow. He requested that we put it downstairs so that the fairy wouldn't actually enter his room. There was a dollar waiting for him in the morning and Jake swears he saw fairy dust. He now has this gappy little grin that melts my heart- a visual reminder of how big my little boy is getting.

The Big 4-0

After a wonderful weekend away last weekend where we slept in, ate good food, watched a matinee and wandered the streets of downtown Boise in varying levels of snowfall without the children, we had the actual birthday event on Friday. Despite Chili's no longer serving the Blooming Onion (Brian's one request for dinner) we had a great time celebrating with the kids, Mary,and my mom. I think Jake was actually more excited about Brian's b'day than he was- he had told all of his teachers that his daddy was turning 40 so throughout the week Brian kept getting ribbed by different people at Jake's school: the PE teacher, the K teacher, parents of friends, etc.... For his 40th his family went together to get him a Wii- complete with Wii Fit, NFL Madden 2008, Wii Music, and Shawn White Snowboarding. Once again, I'm not sure who was more excited: Jake or Brian.
We have a snowboarding lesson next week- on a real board- and he can't wait to get started with that new hobby, too!

I am so proud of him. He set a goal two years ago to be in the best shape of his life when he turned 40. He has been working so hard to lose weight, get in shape, and eat better. He reached his goal and lost close to 50 pounds. He eats veggies now (a small miracle) and traded in ice cream in the evenings for yogurt (I really wish I could kick that addiction!!!). His blood pressure and cholesterol is significantly lower... and did I mention how GOOD he looks???

I definitely got a keeper.

R Day

Just a couple of cool, "proud Dad" moments that I wanted to get down before I forgot.

1. If you don't have grade school kids, you might not know, but "show and tell" has become "share" and it's kind of a themed thing now. Today was "R" day, you can share anything to do with "R". So Charley is bringing his pet rabbit etc. As usual in our house, the conversation about what Jake could bring to share occurred while I was holding the front door open, waiting to walk him to school on R day. As neither Marisa nor I were feeling particularly creative this morning, we came up with the collective surrender, "We've got nothing!". Jake decided he would just not share today.

We then proceeded to walk to school in the freshly fallen snow, until we came upon these raccoon tracks. I told Jake what they were and we followed them for as long as we could down the sidewalk, thru yards etc. I wasn't thinking too much about it other than they were cool looking tracks, when Jake said, "Raccoon starts with R, so I am going to share that me and you followed a Raccoon to school today."

2. Cool thing #2 is a book that Jake brought home from school. The book has pictures and the beginnings of a sentence on each page and then the kid finishes the sentence however they want (creative writing of sorts). Anyway, one of the pictures was of a Dad smiling and the caption started, "I see my Dad, and he says..."

Now...

I have always second guessed my move here in terms of my job. Not the move itself, I love Idaho, just the choice of job. I took a lower paying, no stress job, as opposed to running a company or doing something more taxing for more money. Normally, I'm perfectly happy, but I always wonder if the trade off was worth it. We have less income, can't afford to do as much stuff etc., but I am home everyday for the kids, can help around the house, don't ever have to work late etc. So, I always come back to I made the right choice, but that doubt and second guessing is always there in the back of my mind.

Anyway, back to Jake's book. Here's how he finished the caption: "I see my Dad, and he says "Welcome Home!." So even if I'm not always sure I made the right choice, I think he is....and yes I teared up a little bit.

The Kids

JAKE
Brian and I watched "Mama Mia!" over the holidays and Brian thought Jake would really enjoy it. I was doubtful. Guess who was wrong? Yep, Jake's favorite movie is "Mama Mia!". He goes around the house singing "Super Trouper" and, of course, the title track over and over. He may be the only one in the world who thinks that Pierce Brosnan's singing is "Great!".

He had Friday off school so he and I hung out while I "worked". I love having that one-on-one time together. We did a yoga video at lunch- which he really enjoyed-completing several Sun Saluations proudly. He keeps asking me if we can do it again.

He still loves four square- we taped off a court in his bedroom so we can play inside since it continues to be COLD and FOGGY here. He can beat me with one hand tied behind his back.

Although I am not thrilled that he and Tanner woke up at FIVE AM both days this weekend, I am so proud of how they play together in their room in the mornings- Jake reads Tanner books, they draw on the easel, play their computer games, build Lego towers, and just generally crack each other up until it is time to come into our room at 7.

Speaking of reading.... I am amazed by what he can read these days. He and Brian are reading a non-fiction book on "Baseball's Greats". They take turns reading pages. He picked up a "Magic Tree House" the other day and just sat down and started plowing through it. ( In fact he is now reading this over my shoulder as I type...)

TANNER
He loves school now. After sobbing uncontrollably for months on end every time we dropped him at Miss Wendy's, he now goes happily, always picking out a book to share at reading time and asking if today is field trip day (they take a "field trip" once a week to local free places (Burger King, the mall, the park, Cabelas).

He loves that he has 'homework" (This is just letter practice he does with Miss Wendy but he likes to call it HW so he can be like his big brother). He carries it back and forth in a Steelheads folder.

He is proving to be quite a basketball star and "announces" games as he dribbles through our living room and shoots into the laundry basket. He calls himself "Koby Carl"- who is the star player on our local team. While I was in the hottub yesterday he bundled up (it was 25 degrees outside) and shot three-pointers in our backyard. That kid is so persistent. He did not give up until he made that shot. It took a lot of tries.... but he did it.

He also shows a lot of talent for football. He can catch it from across the living room now and can throw fairly accurately. I don't know where these kids got their athletic ability from, but he's got it in spades. We call him our "Retirement Plan"...

He would survive on PBJ if I let him. And cold pizza. That's his favorite breakfast.

Whenever he falls down or hurts himself in some way he says, "OH... THAT'S gotta hurt!".

We are starting a garden and have been composting for a few months. He loves to help Brian in the garden, turning over the soil, picking up leaves to compost, etc... I think he will really get into it when we actually get to plant things and (hopefully) see them grow! Now if we could only get him to EAT vegetables, that would be good....

FAITH
We have reinstituted "Family Game Nights". Faith loves them! It is a challenge finding games that all three of the kids can enjoy together. So far we have two: One of them is a Disney DVD Bingo game and the other is a Disney Pictionary game. I help Tanner, Brian helps Faith, and we play for about half an hour. When it is time to turn it off Faith just falls apart. She sobs inconsolably. The boys love Game Night, too, and would gladly have it every night instead of 2 nts/week.

She loves to be naked. She runs around the house screaming, "I NAKED! I NAKED!" and when we try to put a diaper on her she yells and bucks her body around, making it almost impossible to get her dressed.

She loves to play sports with her brothers. She does this little tippy toe dance with her hands in the air yelling "I READY! I READY!" while she waits for her brothers to throw, pass, punt, kick, hit, bounce, or roll the ball-of-the-moment to her.

She is definitely showing signs of being almost 2. Yikes. She's always had a scowl that could stop you in your tracks but now she combines it with this loud mean grunting sound. Lovely girl. I'm so proud.

She is addicted to Diego. She was home sick one day last week and I had to work so I plugged her into a CD that had 2 hours of Diego on it. She watched it nonstop the protested loudly when I turned it off. I put her down for a nap and the only way I knew she was awake is that I heard her plaintively repeating, "Dieeeeeeego! Dieeeeeego!" in her crib

She loves animals. She has always adored Milo and will lavish him with love (sometimes a little too roughly) but Miss Wendy has a dog, a cat, a bird, and a turtle and she can't get enough of them. She also loves to play with stuffed animals and currently has a cat, a giraffe, a monkey, and whenever she can manage to steal it away from Tanner.... a "penguino" that she calls "Geeno".

She is the best hugger. She gives these bear hugs that I just eat up. She also holds my face in her hands and says, "I love you Mama!" while staring into my eyes. Seriously. It's a heart breaker.

US
Brian turns 40 on the 30th of this month. His mom is coming to visit for a few weeks and she and my mom are going to watch the kids for two nights so we can get some time alone. This will be our first night away since Faith was born. We are heading to beautiful downtown Boise!!! Yep, we are staying in our own town- but with the huge difference of getting to experience it without little ones. We are taking a snowboarding lesson together on Saturday, have dinner reservations at nice places both nights, plan on seeing a matinee on Sunday, and will sleep in or at least stay in bed both mornings until well past 7AM. We can't wait. Also, LOST starts on Wednesday so its a pretty great week ahead all the way around.

Quick Hits

Things I actually wrote down because I didn't want to forget to post about them:

1. I was reading the dire predictions regarding global warming in a book that Marisa had gotten for me as a Chistmas present, you know flooding, freezing, more extreme weather etc. Tanner was listening in and his verbatim response, "Wow, that's cool Dad". If it's a wreck of a planet we're leaving him, he doesn't seem too concerned about it.

2. We went over to visit Cori before she left to go back to CA and caught her while she was doing her laundry. She had the ironing board set up and we sat and talked for a few minutes before Jake spoke up, gesturing to the ironing board and said, "Hey Dad, what's this thing for?". I may do the laundry here, but I do NOT iron. We don't own an iron, much less an ironing board. If you want something pressed in this house, get a job and take it to the dry cleaners.

3. Jake stayed home from school sick for three days right before we left for Christmas (how sick he ACTUALLY was is open to debate). But he "rested" on the couch while I worked in the office. He is quite the sports fan and will watch old college football games on ESPN classic etc. But I came out from the office and saw him watch, two COMPLETE....Spanish Cup Soccer Games (yes in Spanish)....from the 1998 Spanish Soccer Cup. I don't know if he was sick, but man he MUST have been bored.

I love the dichotomy of kids....they're either cracking you up, or driving you insane.

G Diapers

In a "better late than never" effort to cut down on the number of diapers we put into landfill- and in our continuing quest to lessen our carbon footprint- we started using flushable/biodegradable diapers this week. For those of you with children of diaper age, I highly recommend them. They are easy to use, easy to flush -and you can even compost them if you want. There is some controversy over the flushing (amount of water used) vs. landfill. But since there is no way I am going to use cloth diapers, this is good middle ground.

Faith is modeling one for you!

Check out their website here.

Christmas In California

We decided to leave Boise after work on Friday, December 20th and ended up spending the night in Winnemucca, NV on our way to Truckee- our first planned stop. We hit some snow in Rome and thought it best to get off the roads. We got to the hotel at 10:30 and the kids were WIRED. Thankfully the boys fell asleep sometime around 11:30 but our little girl was a big stinker. She was up until 3:30AM. Brian took her downstairs to the hotel lobby at around 1AM and tried to wear her out- to no avail. She laid between us and repeatedly sang The National Anthem and The ABC Song, then just started yelling things like, "Mommy! Daddy! Jake! Tanner!" while we tried to shush her as best we could while trying not to wake the boys or piss off any of the other hotel guests. Tanner was up at 5:30AM and we departed the lovely town of Winnemucca soon after. Faith escaped with her life.... very narrowly.

Our time in Tahoe was much more fun. We got there by noon and all five of us napped.... AT THE SAME TIME!!! Sheila and Wayne and their kids arrived at 3 and we got to spend the afternoon and evening catching up and laughing and enjoying good homemade food that Sheila brought. Sam is now a sophomore in college and Shelby is a senior in HS- who we are hoping chooses to attend Boise State in the fall. It was so much fun to spend time together- even if it was a brief visit.

The next day we headed to Auntie Sue's house where the kids were greeted with new Christmas dishes/sippy cups and a bedroom decked out with "pre-Christmas toys", new books, stuffed animals, and sleeping bags. Not to mention to the singing Elf hats and Santa masks (see picture). They were in heaven being spoiled to death by Grandma Mary (who was also visiting from MN) and Auntie Sue. Tanner treated us to a performance wherein he dressed up like Santa and spent 30 minutes walking around to each of us "ho ho hoing" and asking us what we wanted for Christmas. Then he would bring us something completely unrelated to our request and say, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!". Very funny. While in San Ramon Brian and I got to see several old friends, renewing friendships from our previous lives in CA. It was so great to catch up- now if we could only get others to move here with us!!!

After two nights at Auntie Sue's we headed to Kim's house in Mountain View. We spent Christmas Eve there with my mom, dad, and sister Kiri. Kim and Bill bought a Wii Fit for Christmas and the kids got to open it on Christmas Eve. The afternoon was spent bowling, skiing, hula hooping, and playing baseball. (Anyone want to place a bet on how long it is before my husband wants to buy one?). We ended the evening with a double feature of "Shrek the Halls" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".

On Christmas Day Brian was awake before the kids and, unable to contain his excitement, was whispering things in their ears like, " It's Christmas morning. Santa came last night! I think there's TOYS!". They awoke at 6:30 and the extravaganza began. Many presents later (two huge tupperware containers full to be exact!) we headed back down to Auntie Sue's house for Christmas Morning #2. More unwrapping ensued. Favorite gifts included a doll and inchworm for Faith, a Nintendo DS for Jake, and an indoor hockey "rink" and scooter for Tanner. However, the most cherished gift of all was a stuffed penguin from Auntie Sue that Tanner calls (You have to imagine this being said with a strong Italian/Spanish accent) "Penguino!. It was love at first sight. He tells us all the time now how he LOVES Penguino (same accent) and how Penguino is his friend. Penguino is now a permanent fixture in bed with Tanner- keeping company with "Moosey", "Ah-Ah" (monkey), and his sippy cup of water. Needless to say, the bed is getting a little crowded!

Two nights later we headed BACK to Kim's house to see some old college/HS friends of mine for a quick brunch before hitting the road back to Truckee. Again, a short but wonderful visit. There was no way we were going to fit all of the Christmas loot in our Suburban, so it seemed like a Christmas miracle when Nikko and Shannon decided to follow us back to Boise in their truck to spend New Year's with us. Sometimes spontaneous decisions are the best thing ever. They are currently here and we are enjoying watching movies, talking, and playing with the kids- leading up to our New Year's Eve Trivia Contest tonight after the kids are in bed. (JAN 1 Update: Nikko beat Brian in Trivial Pursuit- another Christmas miracle??)

So... it was busy. It was really, really fun. We feel more blessed than ever to have so many wonderful friends and family in our lives. But we are glad to be home. And I for one am looking forward to school/daycare starting again next week!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FRIENDS FAR AND NEAR!

Warriors beat the Celts!

So because we can't go more than a post or two without referencing sports in some manner, here is the tale of our night after Christmas trip out to the Warriors game.

So, for anyone not in the know, Uncle Eric is the Equipment Manager for the Golden State Warriors and the King of killer hook-ups. When we knew we were coming back for Christmas, we checked the schedule and low and behold, the Warriors were playing the Celtics the night after Christmas. So we reached out to Uncle Eric and he hooked us up with tickets (and some SWEET jerseys for the boys).

Just a note...this is not just selfish sports going, in the past, this was the only way we were able to ever visit with Eric, was to go to a game. He leads a very busy, hectic, but fulfilling life, doing what he loves...we should all be so happy.

I had taken Jake to a Warriors/Sixers game a couple of years ago, but he doesn't really remember it anymore, so he was looking forward to the game. Tanner had never been and we knew he would love it; for the sake of the game as well as the transportation....the BART train. Tanner has never been on BART and has always been a crazy person for trains of any sort. 

As usual when Mom and Dad say, "It's going to be a late night, both of you boys NEED to nap today.", there was no napping, so the boys were both exhausted and entering that wonderful tired/loopy phase when we loaded them on the train. Tanner was quite confused on how the train was going to take us INTO the basketball arena, additionally, he was concerned that he couldn't see the tracks. He spent a good portion of the ride there looking under the seats to see where the tracks were. Auntie Sue was able to come with us as Grandma Mary stayed behind to get some one on one time with Faith, so she was witness to Tired Tanner in all his glory.

We met up with Eric's girlfriend Mona at the game (who Jake just adores....the boy can BLUSH) and had a really great time. Mona took Jake down into the locker room at half time to see Eric 

and they got to go into the family room where the players families can watch the game ("Dad, do you know WHERE I got THIS cookie from?"). As usual, Tanner wanted to avoid the mascot, whom we never did see, and eat and drink, with only passing interest in the game after the Nation Anthem had passed. Jake got really into it, Kevin Garnett (Celtics) is his favorite player, and I had to explain that he couldn't root too loud as we were in Uncle Eric's seats.

But the best part of the whole thing was that the Warriors won! I thought they would get killed as the Celts had been on a tear and had just lost the night before in LA, so I figured they would be upset and wipe the floor with the Warriors, but it was a great game.

On the BART ride home, Tanner was VERY concerned about where the dirver was. I explained that you couldn't see the driver, but promised to show him the front of the train when we got back to the station. When I walked him up and pointed into where the driver sat, she lowered the window and said hi to him. He jumped in my arms, so I think it scared him, but he was ear to ear smiles the whole time. Not positive, but it might have been his high point for the night.

Snow Day

Today was the first decent snowfall we have had this year, and Marisa and I being big proponents of child labor and sweatshops, went out this morning and brought the boys snow shovels and locked them outside until the sidewalks and stairs were cleared. Just kidding, if you look closely you can see me in the background as well (without supervision they stop working and just goof off, so someone has to watch....).

We shoveled our walk and then headed over to Nana's and shoveled hers as well, the boys were pretty tuckered out after that, so we came home and rested/took naps (depending upon age...meaning Tanner, Faith and Marisa). Jake and I watched the Bills/Jets game.

After that it was off to the sledding hill behind the Merc. All of the kids went out, bundeled to the hilt. Faithy survived for about 10 minutes before tears started falling and Marisa had to take her in. Jake and Tanner and I stayed out for about 45 minutes sledding down together, on their own, and eventually getting brave enough to try going down on Jake's boogie sled standing up, which was AWESOME. Both of the boys went down with me that way and I think snowboards may be a late add to the Christmas list for the Alan Men!

Speaking of Christmas, we are really getting geared up for our trip and are really looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Coming back to visit family and friends makes leaving our White Christmas behind a little more bearable. We'll see you soon, and for those not on the itinerary, know that we are thinking about you and yours and send all of our best Holiday Mojo your way too! Merry Christmas all!

PS. Also, Happy Almost Blogirthday! It's been three years since we started this thing, can you believe it? I never thought we would keep it going this long, but we look back on it now and just love having it there (you have no idea how many arguments this thing has solved!), so we don't anticipate stopping anytime soon. 

Santa '08

Tanner and Faith started screaming the instant Santa walked into the room. All eyes were on our family as Brian, Mom, and I tried our best to calm them down as they screamed things like, "I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE !" and "NO SANTA!!" Seriously, it was like they had just seen the most hideous and terrifying monster imaginable. Faith decided to deal with the situation by falling asleep on Nana's shoulder for the duration. Tanner sat on my lap and kept repeating, "Mom, I never have to sit on Santa's lap, right? Never ever? Ever? Never? Right, Mom? Promise? Really promise? For real?"

Santa called Jake's name first so he went up to get his gift and candy cane, smiled for the picture, and loved every second of it. He's always liked Santa so his brother and sister's response was an enigma to him.

Tanner continued with his rant as Brian and I debated whether or not to take him up there. He didn't want to go with Jake. Didn't want to go with me or Nana. And he didn't want to go with Daddy. Still, when his name was called, Brian picked him up and brought him to the side of Santa's chair. He cried for a second, then took the gift from Santa and even smiled. I was desperately trying to take a picture of this but was ultimately unable since the camera battery had died. I am pretty sure this was karma for forcing my son to confront his fear of people dressed up in character suits- all in the name of a "Merry Christmas".

Faith woke up in time for her name to be called and Brian took her up there, too. She screamed bloody murder and refused to even look in Santa's direction, choosing instead to bury her head in Brian's shoulder. She was shell shocked for the next half hour, recovering on Nana's shoulder, half asleep.

The therapy bills for Christmas '08 are gonna be huge.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please forgive us for the Christmas card you are about to receive.
It may be irreverent but it is also how about 98% of people feel when they realize it is already "that time of year again" so we are only saying what everyone else is thinking (along with Peace on Earth, joy, love, happiness, etc.... of course!)

Faith Wilder

She is growing so much that I had to post about my 21 month independent, talkative, loving, and stubborn little girl. Honestly, if I could keep her this age forever I just might do it. Another list of random things I want to remember:

1. She says her brothers names constantly. "Tanner" is "Tana". She adores them and she brings out their tender side all the time. She has them kiss her dolls and help her tuck them in. The other day I watched as Jake patiently kissed her blankie about 10 times in a row, never losing the forced enthusiasm.

2. She calls her blankie and her stuffed giraffe "Bainey" (they are one entity to her) and insists on them when she is tired or hurt or grumpy.

3. When we put her in her crib at night she scoots her whole body into the corner and curls up into a ball, waiting for us to cover her up. She never resists bedtime (OH, PLEASE let this continue!) and when she wakes up in the morning she calls to us insistently, "MAMA! DADDY! JAKE! I AWAKE!". She doesn't cry at all, but just repeats this loudly until we finally (often after an hour) we are ready to go get her.

4. She loves her Nana. Since mom has moved here she has grown quite attached. Even the mention of Nana's name and she lights up screaming, "NANA! NANA! NANA!" in anticipation of seeing her.

5. She is very independent and wants to do everything herself. From putting on her shoes (she's getting close) to brushing her teeth and reading books.

6. Speaking of books.... this girl loves to read. She calls books "Bobos". I think she would be content to sit on one of our laps all day long and read stories, point at pictures she knows, and play "Find The______" in the children's dictionary that we have.

7. She is still loving baseball. She hits a ball in some manner with a bat and then runs around the room yelling "Home run!" and then falls down on the floor dramatically and says "Safe!". I tried to capture her playing baseball while holding her doll as the combination of the two hobbies was pretty cute.

8. Brian's attempts to get her into horses have been successful (Don't ask me why my husband wants to encourage this as I am sure one day she will want a real horse and then, knowing my husband, we'll have to have a very serious discussion about the reality of this move!). She has 3 plastic horses that she loves to play with and is getting a stable from Santa (guess who's idea this was....)

9. She still is very hesitant around any man but daddy. She is her daddy's girl and loves him to pieces with an enthusiasm that I sometimes envy, but if any other older male comes close she breaks out into tears. She was not a fan of Uncle Bill or Uncle John, didn't take to Papa, and is terrified of the assistant basketball coach Ken- a friend of Brian's. Santa is coming to the Barn this morning and I am not holding my breath about getting a picture of her on his lap. Trauma would definitely ensue.

10. She sings the National Anthem. Seriously. It may not be totally recognizable to anyone but family, but there is no doubt that is what she is singing!

11. She has started to say, "I love you" and she says it to all of us- her two brothers, Brian, and me. It melts my heart every time.

So.... that's our Faith at 21 months. If I can't keep her at this stage, then I definitely want to be able to go back and reread this when she is in the midst of the "Terrible Threes or Fours" which I am too much of a realist to deny are on their way.

A Holiday Equation

Thanksgiving 2008= 7 kids +7 adults +3 dogs x (4 days+ Many Snacks)

It was our first T-Day that we stayed in Boise and we were so happy that both Kim and Lisa's families were able to make the trek out to see us. Mom was in town, too, so we split between the two houses, making everything a little easier. On T-Day the cousins played together happily all day. Jake taught the three girls how to play Four Square and they kept themselves pretty well occupied by playdoh, art, decorating a gingerbread house, and playing outside. But the meal was definitely not the highlight. Shrek (in the soon-to-be-Christmas-Classic "Shrek the Halls") says , "That wasn't Christmas... that was CHAOS!". Well.... the same could be said for our Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a hurried affair with tired kids all with many varied needs and requests and we were back at our house an hour after dinner (at Mom's) began.

We had time in the days before and after to talk politics and books and movies and jobs, parenting, and gossip. It was great to be together. Our last night we gathered in our family room and watched the Grinch together. It was a great way to end the holiday and also a fun way to get in the Christmas Spirit.

In the holiday spirit

So the tree is up, the lights are hung and the Alan Family is ready to go with this whole Christmas thing. I learned last year, while hanging the lights in the snow, that you do those kind of things early here, so ours went up outside the day after Thanksgiving. We got the tree the next day at Home Depot (I just do NOT understand the whole tromp into the woods and kill a perfectly healthy and happy tree thing - no offense if you do, but it's just not me) and got it decorated that night as well.

There is a reason for our haste. We are going to CA for Christmas in just three weeks, so we wanted to be able to enjoy some Christmas spirit in our home here before we left. The kids had a great time decorating the tree and the house looks great. It was Jake's turn to hang the angel this year, probably the last time we will be able to do it in the manner shown in the photo, as the next time it's his turn he'll be 8 (and I'll be 42ish) and I don't know if I'll still be able to lift him above my head. But it was great to be able to do it this way one more time.

I have dropped the holiday playlist onto the iPod and we have the kids advent calendar full and set. 

We watched the Grinch while everyone was here for Thanksgiving, and our new holiday favorite, "Shrek the Halls" is being Tivo'd as we speak. 

I am currently on an internet search to find a photo Christmas card company that uses recycled paper, to make a Christmas card that is, itself, recyclable, so if you know of one already, please tell me. I very cautiously broached the subject of doing a much more earth friendly e-Card campaign this year and almost lost a limb in the process. I love me some green energy, but not at risk of bodily harm, so we will be sending out the most earth-friendly cards I can find (please recycle them!). 

Marisa and I both took this Friday off work to finish up the Christmas shopping (and maybe have a quiet lunch together but who knows), so we should be set to load up the gas guzzling sleigh and hit the road with Christmas cheer just oozing from our ears when it's time to head south for the holiday.