Another Year Comes to a Close

Last week Tanner "graduated" from Kindergarten. Side note..Brian and I are really not fans of graduation ceremonies outside of high school graduation. I mean we had pre-K graduation, K graduation, 6th grade graduation.... by the time these kids hit high school graduation it will mean nothing. But...what are we gonna do? Refuse to let our kids participate? I feel the same about yearbooks. Yearbooks in elementary school? Really?

Anyway, for better or worse. Tanner had his K graduation last Friday. He was very cute as he got himself all gussied up (for Tanner this means a plaid shirt and plaid shorts that clash), came downstairs, and said, "Mom, I think this is the best I have ever looked!".  Bless that boy's heart- it was definitely an improvement over his normal day-to-day uniform of sports shorts and a glaringly mismatched sports jersey of some sort.  He was very proud wearing his cap (no gown thank goodness- at least that will be something special to add to HS graduation).

The ceremony was very cute. They sang a bunch of songs and Tanner was very animated throughout. We took great videos but won't bore everyone here. It was short and sweet and included a handshake with the principal and a "diploma" which was promptly discarded by our boy.

Later that afternoon there was a pool party at our clubhouse to celebrate the end of the year. Since Faith had her last day with daycare (Goodbye, Miss Wendy!) on Thursday she was able to come with me. Tanner hung out with his buddies and swam for hours. Meanwhile, Jake was with his friends on the green playing sports and later headed to a sleepover to celebrate the end of 3rd grade.

It was a great school year for all of our kids. They have been so lucky to have had such amazing teachers -and we are also blessed to have three kids that actually like to learn, take to it easily, and are self motivated. It's official: We are the parents of a Kindergartner, a first grader, and a fourth grader.

Uncle Ricks Memorial

Our trip to CA was for a sad reason, my Uncle Rick's Memorial Service. It was great so see my family, but hard because Uncle Rick was always there and always had a smile for everyone. I have always had a great relationship with my Uncle, even when we didn't see each other all that much. 


From him, I got my love of old houses and construction. When I was younger he was always working on his various houses. In their first home that I remember in Fremont, he built a water fall and lazy river in their backyard. I remember going there and just being amazed at the amount of design and work went into it and how cool it was. Ever since then, when I am working on a house I think of that house and when I think of taking a shortcut, I think of the work that he did and don't. He helped me put an HVAC system in my first house, 14 years ago now, in the middle of Summer in Tracy CA (it must have been over a 100 degrees all three days). 


When we first got the news that he had cancer, I was devastated. That was almost three years ago. I saw Uncle Rick a few times between then and now and he was always the same, happy guy who always made you the center of the conversation. He told great stories and could always get a laugh. He seemed so happy that I started to think that maybe it was just going to fix itself and everything would be fine. The end came quickly and, even though we were told it was coming, that didn't make it any easier to take. 


Just as I liked to emulate Uncle Rick as I worked on houses, I would really like to have people think of me when I am gone as I think of him. The quote below is how I define a successful life after the fact, and Uncle Rick nailed it.


He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.


Thanks for giving me something to emulate and something to try to live up to. Love you.

Family Man

We found a silver lining in the sad passing of Uncle Rick and Brian and I like to think that Uncle Rick would have wanted it that way. Rick was a family man to the core and after considering just sending Brian and Jake to the memorial this weekend we decided to bring everyone. This decision afforded us a great opportunity to enjoy our family and honor Uncle Rick's dedication to his. 

We set off on the trip undecided if we would drive the whole way (11.5 hours with no stops) or if we would stop and spend the night in Reno en route. We ended up driving the whole way and taking 14 hours to do it. We left at 730 AM and arrived (Boise time) at Auntie Sue's at 930 last night. Talk about family togetherness. We didn't even take our big car. We decided to rent a vehicle since our old Suburban has seen better days. We ended up with a Chevy Impala and the kids filled the backseat. I think the trunk was bigger than the car itself. 

I can honestly say we had a great, great day. We listened to music and ate way too much junk food, drank too many energy drinks and too much coffee, and gave the kids too many treats and let them play too many video games. It was a day of excess and a day of true family togetherness.  We played games and sang along loudly (and mostly out of tune) to all kinds of music. We stopped too many times and even wandered around the world's largest sporting goods store, Scheels Sporting Goods, for close to an hour. (That's Faith and I on her first Ferris Wheel ride.). 

The night before we left my friend Donette gave me a great idea- she suggested filling a baggie with strips of paper that have different activities printed on them and allowing the kids to pick a paper every 30-45 minutes along the road. Brian and I wrote the activities the night before and told the kids of our plan that morning. They were so excited! The papers contained everything from, "Stop at the next safe spot and run around the car 6 times" to "30 Minute Mandatory Rest Time". They  pulled out strips that allowed them to play "20 Questions with Dad as the Leader"  and to "Play 2 Games of Hangman with Mom". "Blast the radio and sing along to music of your choice for 15 minutes" was a big hit, as was "Stop at the next gas station for a drink of your choice".  It is still hard for me to believe that in that entire 14 hours there wasn't one argument or sibling squabble.  

Uncle Rick- you will be missed by all of us and we hope that somehow you know the joy that was had by our family as we journeyed from Boise to CA to honor your life. 

The Last One

My baby girl "graduated" from pre-school last week. My last one.  She and Tanner were both blessed, truly blessed, with an amazing teacher and program. It was everything I remember preschool being (complete with the wedding dress in the dress up area)  and everything I think preschool should be- more playing and less direct teaching. She grew so much during those two years and went from crying everyday at drop off to happily waving goodbye and running off to play with her friends, barely noticing I was gone. Those years, like all of them, went by way too fast and I think I'd do them all over again if I had the choice. Next year she will be joining her brothers at "the big school" and even though she can't wait, I am not in such a hurry for that day to get here. I know she will do great  but I think I will go straight from dropping her off in Ms. Schubert's room to attending the annual "Tea and Tissues" event for Kindergarten parents. I've never needed the tissues before, always knowing I had one more to go. But not this year. This year will be the last one. And I have a feeling I'm going to need a large supply of those tissues.

Mother's Day 2012

Our traditional bike ride by the Boise River to Joe's Crab Shack and Ann Morrison Park couldn't happen this year due to the flooding on the river so we had to make other plans. Luckily it was a gorgeous day. I slept in late (while Brian made the kids pancakes) then stopped for coffee on the way to the park. We hung out and played baseball and relaxed in the sun. We bought lunch supplies on the way home and while Brian fixed the kids lunch I took a nap (do we see a theme here?). Later we all went to the pool and BBQ'd hotdogs for dinner. The kids bounced on the trampoline, I enjoyed a nice cool beverage, and a good day was had by all. I ended the day with my weekly "date with Jeff Probst" for the Survivor Finale (Yes, as pathetic as it is, I am still watching that show 25 seasons in!). 

I know I have posted the words to this song (by Rascal Flats) previously but I heard it the day before Mothers Day on the radio and I think it's worth an encore. Every time I hear it I am reminded of what success as a mom looks like. And, like all moms, I hope this wish comes true for each of them. 

The Wish

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

CarniVAL

So the kids have watched the movie Rio about 5 times over the last month. It's a cute movie if you haven't seen it. It's about some birds who get stolen in Rio during Mardi Gras. The characters in the movie sing and dance about carniVAL. This is the way Tanner has chose to pronounce carnival when talking about the year end carnival at school, which has had everyone in stitches, since he keep saying things like, "mom, when are we going to carniVAL?" "I hope they have good candy at carniVAL" etc. Well we went last night.


This is yearly fundraiser at the kids school. Marisa usually signs up to sell tickets and I sign up for cleanup duty when it's all over. It's getting more and more fun as the kids are getting bigger. Jake and to a lesser extent Tanner, hang out with their friends and consume their body weight in candy, soda, cupcakes and cotton candy. Which leave us more more or less free to talk to fiends, socialize with their teachers etc. The teachers get in the dunk booth (the hit every year when the principal and PE teacher are in there), parents paint hair and faces, there are jump houses and games and it just a great community event. 


Jake this year really wanted to hang out at the karaoke booth (Why? It where all the girls are.). He and his buddies all got up and sang. Jake did a Nickleback song and and Eminem song, both of which I'm pretty sure he just did because he thought those artists were cool. I'm pretty sure he hadn't heard either of the songs he did before. I got some awesome video that will be played for every prom date, graduation party and rehearsal dinner in the foreseeable future. He came home with his hair dyed green and hopped up on a ton of crap. He didn't get to sleep until well after 9:30 and had to get up early and play a tough baseball game today.


Tanner played with his friends and wanted to try to dunk his PE teacher, which he did. The tradition is; the kids get three throws and if they don't hit the target or dunk the teacher, they all run up and hit the button by hand, so the teacher gets dunked every time. God love teachers, they have endless patience, are always good sports and brave because it is freezing each and every year they do this. Tanner also got his hair painted green and had a really good time. 


Faith is special person at Pre-School this week, so she has Calvin the Special Person bear home with her this weekend. She wanted to take Calvin to the carnival last night, s she stuffed him in a backpack and away she went. We have to make a photo page each time Calvin comes home for his traveling scrapbook, so Faith wanted to take Calvin into the funny photos booth with us, so she could put that on his photo page. 


This is one of the events we truly love in our community. It a fun, safe time out for kids and frieds. It also means that school is almost out for the year, which is both amazing and terrifying.

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

Okay, so we have finally just given in. Tanner and Faith's Tball season is almost over. Tanner is itching to move on and get to pitching machine next year. Faith has no such desire and has already told us that she doesn't want to play again. She had such a great attitude and tried so hard this year, I'm a little disappointed that she didn't like it more.  She really improved over the course of the season, starting with needing Marisa out in the outfield with her and ending with getting a hit off of live pitching (I forgot to bring the tee) at our last game. She is a free spirit  and wants to do gymnastics or dance next. I think baseball might be a little too "square" for her.


Tanner could really have moved up to pitching machine this season, but has enjoyed playing TBall again. He was with his best friends, Evan and Gus. He was very excited that I forgot the tee and he was able to hit pitches. He hit three into the outfield and kept saying it was "his best game ever!" He is at an unfortunate age for our league and can't play again until next spring season. He is looking forward to playing flag-football this fall, though, and Marisa is trying to convince him to try swim team. He is definitely a good swimmer and just needs a little confidence to do it without his brother. 


Jake on the other hand has an exceptional amount of options at his age. He has had a great AAA season and is moving on to playing summer ball. 


AAA - Jake's team won their first playoff game last night, coming from behind to win in the last inning. Jake came up to the plate with us two run down, runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. I thought Marisa and I were both going to die. He got to a full count quickly and I was just praying for a walk when he drove one out into center for a two run single to tie the game up. The next two guys up drove him in also and we won the game by two. He was named player of the game again and was just beaming as he game off the field. They are playing again on Saturday and he is just having a blast playing on this team and at this level. 05/19/2012 update - Season over :(. They ran into the best pitcher in the league when he was having an awesome day. They battled but ended up losing 10-3, Jake struck out twice. I told Jake it was just a baseball thing and he should be happy, because that pitcher is playing on his Outlaw team with him! It was a tough loss. They are having a team pool party tomorrow to celebrate a great season that ended one game too soon.


Outlaw - He was invited to play on a one month travel baseball team. This is an outlaw team (not playing in a league, but just tournament play) and is made up of invited 9 and 10 year olds from AAA. The manager is the All Stars Manager and he thinks Jake can make All-Stars as well. The team is only together for four tournaments and disbands the day before All Stars tryouts. Marisa and I struggled with this a little, but the commitment wasn't too bad and Jake really enjoys playing with this group of boys. He is the only third grader on the team, but really seems to play up to the competition and plays better with these kids than he has before.


All Stars - This one was A LOT tougher decision. This is a high level travel team with tryouts required. It is also solely tournament play and it most Fridays and Saturdays during June and July. Jake's age group isn't eligible, but this is the local team that can advance to the Little League World Series. A couple of years ago the Boise team went pretty far in the tournament, so this team is a big deal here. The League President is the All Stars Manager. If Jake makes All Stars, we will need to take days off to take him to tournaments and most weekends in the Summer will have some sort of baseball tournament activity. Marisa was dead set against it at first but watching him play lately, she has changed her tune and agreed to let him try out and the chips fall where the may. Plus the more into baseball he becomes the less likely it will be that he will continue with tackle football- which is a plus in our book.


Summer Ball - This is the lower level Summer season baseball. This is all scheduled Mon -Thur, with nothing on the weekends. It runs longer than All Stars and finishes up right before Football season starts. If Jake doesn't make All Stars, he would drop down and play in this league, which is basically the same level he is playing at now. If he does make All Stars, once the All Star season is complete, he can drop down and finish the Summer Ball season on any team he wants. This is possible because his very gullible father is the league director for Summer Ball this year.


So welcome to 2012, the summer of Baseball.

Jake's Favorite Part of the New House

Posted by Jake:


my favorite part of our new house is my room because of my fat head (it can be a full size sports player. wich is what  i have). i chose tom brady he is the QB for the patriots. he is one of my favorite QBs ever. he was a gift for cristmas from my grandma mary. i  also got some sports stickers that i put on my wall to.


i also like the trampoline in are back yard. i love to do flips, play with balls  and etc.it was a gift from the easter bunny. faith wasnt to ecxited at first until it was built. we took about a day to build it. it was a fun faimily project if you ask me.

Faith's Favorite Part of the New House

Posted by Faith:


I like my room. I like the fishies on my wall. I have pretty purple drapes with white polka dots. I also like the pony stickers in my bathroom.


I like that I have my own bathroom. I like that my room is close to Jakey. I'm glad that I have my own room.


I like the bonus room too. It has a big TV. We watch TV in the mornings in there.


I really like that we have a trampoline in our backyard. You can bounce really high. It's a lot of fun. We play games on it; ring around the rosy and ball tag.


Am I done now?

Tanner's Favorite Part of the New House

Posted by Tanner:


I like the bonus room the most because we have the big screen in there.


It is cool. It is like a movie theater. We like to watch movies, cartoons and we play video games on it. 


I like that we have a trampoline. It is fun to bounce on it. 


I like that I have my own room. I have my own stickers on the walls. 

May 2012

There aren't a lot of pictures hung and we still have boxes to unpack of course, but we are mostly moved in and loving our new home. It is quiet and peaceful. We have lots of windows and tons of natural light. The kids love having their own rooms and are sleeping so much better. Brian and I really like having a downstairs master- I love waking up, turning on my coffee pot and fireplace, and then going back to bed for a few minutes. We are so happy with all the finishes we chose. We don't really miss being next to the Merc and living a mile further from school hasn't really impacted us that much. The kids practically live on the trampoline and also like the bonus room upstairs. Being able to sit outside in the afternoon/evening even when it is a 90 degree day is heavenly. 

That being said, we are still dealing with quite a few construction fixes: Both upstairs bathrooms still need new flooring (In the boys bath the toilet leaked before we moved in and damaged the floor and Faith's floor wasn't put in correctly to begin with).  Our master shower has been fixed but yesterday they tore out our entire vanity area to redo the cabinetry, mirrors, and tile backsplash. Hopefully that will be done by the end of today. Still waiting on kitchen cabinets to be completed and our entertainment center to be redone. Sound like a mess? Yep, it kinda was. Not a big fan of our builder. That would actually be a BIG understatement.  Let's just say it's good that I am not violent by nature. 

Kids are doing great. It is so hard to believe that this school year is almost over. 3 weeks left and then I will be the mother of a 4th grader, a 1st grader, and a Kindergartener. That will begin a three year stint of all three kids being in the same school. Given that our middle school is 7-9 and our high school is 10-12 this will be the only three years that they will all be together. I'd better savor it! Faith will have the same K teacher that Tanner and Jake both had so we are really excited about that, too. She can't wait. The boys are so happy there and have had such amazing teachers so far. We are truly blessed with kids that like learning and with a school that makes it fun. 

The kids are all enjoying baseball.  Jake's final game before the tournament is tonight. If they win tonight they will be in first place. His coach thinks he should try out for All Stars but we are on the fence. He'd love to do it but it would really impact our summer weekends. We are going to let him play on a mini- tournament team in June to get a taste of it. Tryouts for All Stars aren't until end of June. Tanner is a natural and can't wait for machine pitch next year.  He is really talented I think.  Although Faith has enjoyed the season and looks like a pro out there in her "ready stance" in right field, she says she does not want to play next year. She wants to go back to gymnastics this summer. I am really proud of her for giving it a shot and working so hard at it. 

We are busy making summer plans and trying to figure out how to fit in everything that we want to do: waterskiing, camping, summer baseball, etc... The time just flies by too fast and I know fall will be here before we know it.  We have a week at Lake Shasta in mid-August for Brian's family reunion on his dad's side but other than that we will be staying in Idaho. I am hoping that many summer evenings find us outside on our patio or at the lake on our boat. Work should be slower than it has been lately- although I will have to travel to Pittsburgh for a week in July and eastern Idaho in late June. 

We are getting new neighbors!! Sheila and Wayne's house is finally being built. It is three doors down and it's too late for them to back out now. The foundation is being poured as I type this. All of us are so excited and we hope they don't come to regret living three doors down from our chaos.  I literally will be able to step out on my back patio and invite them over for drinks. Or borrow half and half when I run out (which is often). Very cool. 

Giants baseball on TV, good friends, summer weather, new home, happy kids. We can't ask for much more (well, except maybe an upstairs bathroom that doesn't have a toilet inside the shower...). Here's to Summer 2012!

We've Moved (sort of)...

This will be short and sweet but we wanted to let everyone know that we have officially moved. 

It's been a roller coaster ride with our builder and we will continue to have workmen in and out of the house for the next two weeks or so fixing tile, floors, cabinets, paint, and more...but we are mostly in our new home and out of our old house (except for the garage with is still full of all of that fun stuff you use maybe once a year but have to keep "just in case"). We have piles and piles to go to Goodwill, stacks of boxes yet to be unpacked, cardboard coming out the wazoo, and lots of decisions to make as to what goes where. Mom and I got the kitchen mostly unpacked yesterday while Brian built beds, set up entertainment systems, hung blinds, etc...  

The kids have slept great in their own rooms- even with us sleeping downstairs. That's a huge load off my mind as many of you know that bedtime and sleeping is not our kids' forte.  They have been using the trampoline a ton and are enjoying the bonus room upstairs. Jake has friends down the block and Tanner's best buddy lives 14 doors down (yes, he counted). Faith is pretty flexible- as long as she has her "guys" she is good to go. 

This move has made us really appreciate our neighborhood and our friends. They have been so great to us.  We have also had friends take the kids on and off the last week to give us time to get organized which has been great. Neighbors have delivered meals to us the last few nights and dropped by bottles of wine, etc... Mom brought over a case of Hefewiezen which was immediately shared with neighbors that came by last night after dinner. Love it!! 

Our yard faces the opposite direction of our old house so we get morning sun on our back patio and in the afternoon it is shaded and perfect for outdoor dinners and drinks with friends. Our old house was unusable in the late afternoon summers so this is huge for us. It is quiet and peaceful and open. We heard coyotes last night, saw pheasants behind the house yesterday, and are keeping our eyes out for the deer that supposedly show up in herds on the hills behind our house.

We have a crazy few weeks ahead of us. We will spend today getting the old house cleaned out and room made in the new garage for all of the miscellaneous stuff we don't know what to do with. Brian leaves for a business trip early Tuesday morning, returns late Thursday night then I leave Fri and Sat for the PTA conference, return Sunday only to depart again Tuesday-Friday. Phew. Add in baseball and tball and school and homework and everything else and it's going to continue to be wild around here for the foreseeable future. A big shout out to my mom who is always willing to lend a hand and do whatever she can to help us with the house or kids. 

In typical Brian and Marisa decision making fashion we decided to move, built a house, and moved in -all within a 6 month period. Needless to say it's been a little stressful. But we survived. The kids survived. We are both still employed and none of us turned to drugs, alcohol, or gambling during the process.  Of course we are both saying emphatically, "NEVER AGAIN!". And, yes, I know some of you are saying, "yeah, right!"...You know us too well!

Easter 2012

I am an Easter Scrooge.  Even though I have fond memories from my childhood of hunting for eggs, dyeing eggs, and waking up and searching for my Easter basket I just never found the joy in Easter as a parent. I gave up egg dyeing several years ago and for whatever reason the whole easter bunny thing just seems more like a chore. Being as uninvolved with religion as we are, there is no "real" reason to celebrate the holiday- it is strictly parental guilt that leads me to the pastel colored grocery aisles- thinking about my children lying on therapy couches years from now lamenting how the Easter Bunny visited all of their friends growing up but he shunned them. I'm sure they'd be warped forever. 

So I bought candy and filled eggs and my mom and I hid them Saturday night while Brian (even more of an Easter Scrooge than myself) heckled us from the couch.  The kids did enjoy searching for the eggs the next morning but they were especially excited about the eggs that held clues in them. We started the "clues in the eggs" idea when Jake was very young. This year just five of the eggs held clues- a scrambled sentence that led them to our new house. We had been intending to get them a trampoline for the new yard so we used that as our Easter present. Throwing robes on over our jammies we headed to the new house where the trampoline was discovered in the garage (still in boxes since we didn't officially own the property yet).  The kids' enthusiasm was lackluster- especially Faith who was very subdued and later told me that she had really been hoping for a "guy" (another stuffed animal). Needless to say, my attitude about easter and the easter bunny was not markedly improved by their reaction. To be fair, two big boxes with a picture of other kids jumping happily is not quite the same as being able to run out and jump on your very own trampoline. The delayed gratification is a little hard for  a 5,6, and 9 year old. I know once it is set up they will be appropriately excited. 

The big hit of the day was Grandma Mary's gift that she left for them- they each got a chair for their new rooms and a Hex Bug. The Hex Bugs got a full days worth of play as the kids built lego houses for their bugs, homes out of cardboard, obstacle courses, etc... Now they are gathering dust on one of the many packing boxes lining the halls of our soon-to-be-vacated house. 

Opening Day 2012

As usual for us, Easter weekend means Opening Day of baseball season. The last few years have meant all day Saturday at Opening Day pictures and festivities, the only difference this year being ALL of the kids were involved. 


Jake ended up making the AAA Giants. He is the youngest player on the team and is so far struggling with the fact that he is not one of the best players on his team. They won their first game last week 15-1, their pitcher pitched a no hitter and their big hitter hit a three run home run. Jake played all three outfield positions and walked once and struck out twice.


Tanner and Faith are on the same TBall team (we are the Yankees again). We had our first practice last week. It's a small team, only 9 kids total, and looks to be a fun season.



Opening Day followed the same format that it has for the last several years, photos followed by running, throwing, hitting and obstacles course stations. They kids and their teammates all had a good time. Tanner came is first in hitting on his team, Jake came in second in hitting on his team and Faith hung with the boys all day. As it seems to be in the genes, all of our kids came in dead last in the running the bases station on their respective teams (Tanner beat Faith for second to last on the TBall team). We had a good time, but after seven hours at the ball field, came home exhausted.

Update on The House

I love my key lime tile!!

Entry way lockers and drawer for each kid. Still need hardware.

It's been such a long time since we posted about our house and I have had several requests for pictures so here they are! It has been really hectic to stay on top of the build between our trip, work, and the kids. There have been several instances of the workmen saying, "We didn't get your selection choice so we just guessed". Ahhh... no. All of the instances resulted in them redoing it the right way. Anyway... it's been an adventure and we have both learned a lot. Move in day is only weeks away, as long as they can locate our "cabinet guy" who appears to be AWOL (our contractor thinks he is either in jail or hospital or dead). 

Back exterior

Kitchen sink, staircase, dual sided fireplace

Powder bath

Tanner Rides

Last year it was time for Tanner to get up on two wheels. I took his training wheels off and we tried a couple of times on his old little bike. He was terrified and I was impatient and put the training wheels right back on....So THIS year it was time for Tanner to get up on two wheels.


Jake got a new BMX bike for his birthday, so we stepped Tanner up to Jake's old bike which is a little bigger and doesn't have training wheels to start with. It was sunny today and we were all out front, so I got Jake's bike down to see if it would fit Tanner. The plan wasn't to try anything today, I was still preparing for that down the road, remembering our last experience.


Anyway, he got on it to size it up and it fit him perfectly. He seemed confident and ready to go, so I asked him, "Do you want to try?". He nodded yes and bing...bang...boom he was off down the street. Took literally five minutes and he did it! He was so proud of himself and I felt awesome about it.


I guess there's something to be said about being ready when you're ready and not before. He was ready today and is off and riding.

Paradise

Our five days in Hawaii were beyond paradise. It was so luxurious having just the two of us- from the plane ride where we read OUR books and watched OUR movies, to waking up and going to sleep when WE wanted, and eating, drinking, napping, etc... when and where we felt like it. Did I miss the kids? Yeah... but not really until the last day. The weather wasn't great- in fact we really only had two nice beach days-but we found that it really didn't matter. I think we could have been in Iowa and ALONE and enjoyed it. Yep- it was nice to have the time away to reconnect and remember how much we truly like each others company. And it was a little unsettling to realize how very very relaxed we both can be away from the stresses of work, kids, and building a home. Now the trick is bringing the mellowness back to "real life". Hmmm. I need to work on that!

We ate so well- including breakfast in a beachside restaurant each morning followed by ice cream sometime before noon. Lunch was casual and dinners out were delicious, decadent, and all included beautiful ocean views (or a table right on the sand). We wandered around Lahaina and shopped, read our books by the pool, took naps, drank lots of boat drinks (Well, I did. Brian mostly stuck to Red Bull and Diet Coke), and basically just hung out together in a "child free haze of delight".  

Our flight got into Portland at 1150PM so we spent night #6 in a airport hotel. We got in and went to IHOP for a late dinner (OK... a VERY late dinner) and the next morning we woke up late and walked over to Ikea for breakfast and a leisurely stroll through the entire store. Even that day was heavenly. That's what I mean about Iowa. I guess the location really doesn't matter as long as you are with someone you truly love and enjoy being with (and that person, for once in 9 years, isn't under the legal drinking age). 

The vacation wasn't completely stress-free: We arrived in Portland at 630AM to find that our flight to Honolulu was delayed.... BY 15 HOURS! Our arrival in Maui was going to be delayed by an entire 24 hours. Ummm... not what I was hoping for. Hawaiian Airlines was less than helpful in getting it rescheduled but eventually we lucked out and found a flight to Seattle with a connection to Maui that would get us there even earlier than we had originally been scheduled to arrive. Unfortunately Hawaiian Air wouldn't pay for our tix from Portland to Seattle and 400 dollars later and a VERY tense full-on run through the terminal and we made it on an 8AM flight to Seattle and no further delays (coming or going) were experienced. 

The Grandmas took great care of the kiddos in our absence. I don't think any of the kids even really missed us too much. (Could it be that they needed a break from US as badly as we needed a break from THEM?). However, they were very glad to see us in the airport and had made us welcome home signs and decorated the house for our arrival. I was definitely ready for some kid snuggles and they were happy to oblige. Grandma Mary had homemade potato salad, broccoli salad, deli sandwich fixings and homemade lemon meringue pie waiting for us and Nana had bought me a bunch of tulips. Seriously? They were still spoiling us even after we got back? There is just no way to properly thank them. Their willingness to take on our chaos for the week is priceless. The fact that we were given a week to decompress and reconnect is priceless. Somehow I think the Starbucks cards did not do their work justice so I hope that by reading this they understand how very, very grateful we are to them. 

Aloha, everyone. 

Jake's 9th Birthday

So for the last few years it's been, "football, football football" for Jake's birthday. This year he said he wanted to do a sleep over with a bunch of his buddies, which was fine with us as truthfully, I was running out of football themed ideas anyway. 


He invited seven of his friends from school (six of them spent the night).  Tanner and Faith also joined in. It was more than a little heartbreaking to see Tanner's face fall apart when he learned that he couldn't sleep in with the big boys and was sleeping in our room. To be fair, we had told him three or four times from the time we scheduled the sleepover until the day of the sleepover and he said "okay" each time, but when the time came, he just lost it.


As a surprise, I spent most of the day on Saturday installing the projection TV system from the new house in the boys bedroom. I hung it in the closet and shot it onto a king size white sheet across the room. I also hooked up the surround sound and brought the Wii upstairs (right, sometimes I over-do it) so they could watch movies and play larger than life size video games all night. 

As soon as his friends started to arrive... they all went across the street to the green and started a flag football game. Tanner took up his usual position of ref and they played football for a good 45 minutes, returning to the house in full hyperactive sweaty 9 year boy mode, which they would be in for the rest of the party.


We had Papa Murphy's take and bake for dinner and then Jake opened presents. He got a bunch of Raiders stuff, water bottles, chewing gum and sunflower seeds, and gift cards to two different sporting goods stores. Then it was upstairs to play, what else..Madden on the big screen. 7 sweaty, smelly 9 year old boys locked up in a room with a heat generating TV projector, had about the effect that you would assume and when they came downstairs a little bit later for cake, I went up and turned on the ceiling fan and opened all of the windows to try to air the room out. It made us realize that maybe a conversation regarding deodorant and personal hygiene wasn't far off in the future.


After cake it was upstairs for the evenings movie selection....Rudy. We pulled all of the mattresses onto the floor and popped popcorn while they all watched Rudy on the bigscreen. Towards the big game scene at the end we could hear them from downstairs chanting, "RUDY, RUDY, RUDY" (because all the windows were open up there, so could our whole street actually) as they got really into it. After the movie it was more video games until bedtime. Eventually we closed the windows and they all fell asleep about 10:30. They made a pact for the first one up to wake everyone else though, so they were back at it at 6:00 am the following morning.


Jake wanted very specific donuts for his birthday breakfast. I hit the road at 6:00 in the dark and rain to make sure I got the one's he wanted. In the photo, you can see him with his local favorite "bacon maple bar". After breakfast? You guessed it, more video games until pick-up time at 10:00. 


After about 8:00 am, pickup time couldn't get here fast enough for us. It was a lot of fun, but the constant noise, chaos, smell and need to make sure everyone was having a good time started to get to me. 10 minutes after his friends left, Jake came in and announced that he was bored and he literally almost didn't get any older. 


It was a looooong rest of the day with three tired kids and tired parents. But Jake got the sleepover he wanted, which ended up being football themed anyway and had a really good time with his friends. As he continued to complain (along with Tanner), they spent the rest of Sunday cleaning every room in the house, making beds, putting away laundry. The real lesson here is when Dad works all day to make sure you have a fun birthday party; 1. you BETTER say thanks, and 2. you BETTER leave him alone to clean it up in peace.

Faith's 5th Birthday Festivites

Faith had her friend birthday party on Saturday. This was the first one she wanted to invite friends to. She invited four girls- three from preschool and our next door neighbor, Ava (who is in first grade). She didn't want any organized party games, she just wanted to play with everyone. It was a beautiful day so they played out front with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and jump ropes. Mostly they chased each other around on the lawn. We played some Disney Bingo, then had cake. She picked out a dog cake (this was pretty much the "theme" of the party... animals). After about two bites she called Nana over to her chair and whispered, worriedly, "Nana, I don't like the cake".  She wasn't upset about it she just wasn't sure if she was required to eat it all. Mom assured her that she could leave whatever she didn't want. She was very excited to open her presents and clearly had a favorite: a "Pucci Pup" golden retriever. She couldn't wait to take it out of the packaging and start playing with it.

On Sunday we took her to Build-a-Bear to spend her birthday money from Auntie Sue. She picked out a Weiner Dog, weiner pup, dog bed, and a bathrobe (for the dog). She proudly carried her two bags around the mall for the rest of the morning. Guess what she brought for Show-and-Tell today?

Monday was the day we designated to do our Family Party since Brian and Jake were at baseball tryouts during her friend party. Brian picked her up at Miss Wendy's early so he could take her out for her special birthday dinner. She chose Burger King, of course, hence the crown in the picture above. Grandma Mary and Nana came over tonight and she opened lots more presents. Again, her favorite was an animal- a baby bird "Furreal" from her brothers that "drinks" from a bottle. She got an iPod Nano from us (for her lullabies at nighttime and to listen to Colder Weather over and over and over again!). From Papa she got a new purple bike helmet, Mary got her cool speakers for her new room to go with her iPod. Some magnetic ballerina dolls from The Crebars and a snuggly guy that lights up when you squeeze it from Grandma rounded things out.  More cupcakes, one more round of "Happy Birthday" and we called it a night. 

Tomorrow is her ACTUAL birthday (905 AM to be exact) but because it is a work/school day and she has dance class from 530-615, I am glad we decided to celebrate tonight. Her big request for her big day? Pizza for dinner.

Happy Birthday to my Faithy-Faith- my best surprise ever. I love that little girl so fiercely and can hardly believe she is five years old already... seems like only yesterday I was shocked senseless by that little pink line staring up at me :)

Won't You Be Mine?

On Valentine's Day I got home from work, Faith in tow, and we discovered the boys all playing baseball on the Green, my mom making us dinner in the kitchen, and a tall vase of tulips on our counter. The note read, "To my Forever Valentine, Love Daddy".  Faith couldn't believe they were for her. Her eyes lit up. She ran over to the Green to give her daddy a hug and to say thank you then sat there at the counter smelling them and marveling at them with a huge smile on her face.

The roses Brian sent me arrived an hour or two later but really, I didn't need them. To be surrounded by such love with Nana doing something just because she knew I'd be tired after a long day at work, getting to watch my boys have a blast playing pre-season ball on the green with their favorite guy in the world, and witnessing the pure joy of a little girl receiving her first bouquet of flowers... I was good. The roses were just icing on the cake. Yep, it's sappy... but "lucky" doesn't even do it justice. Happy Valentine's Day 2012

Studio 54

In preparations for our impending move into the new house, where the kids are going to be upstairs by themselves (the new Master BR is downstairs), and the boys are going to be in their own rooms, we have been trying to be proactive about getting them comfortable at night. Part of my strategy was to make as many changes before we moved as possible, so that the main change wasn't accompanied by a bunch of little changes as well. 


To that end, we let the kids all choose new night lights for their new rooms, and put them in now so that they were used to them by the time we moved. We allowed them free reign to make their choices on amazon on where ever. Faith chose a butterfly night light which has a back-lit rotating screen where you can watch the butterflies fly by. It's very bright and very loud, but she likes it and since we were leaving a light on in her room anyway, the brightness wasn't really an issue. 


Jake and Tanner both chose the pictured disco/dj rotating light balls. Since they are both in the same room still, their room looks like a Spanish disco after lights out. They both really like them though and have been sleeping better, so whatever works. If it helps them to sleep in a New Jersey Bar Mitzvah reception, who am I to quibble?

Step 2- Stucco/Paint

Front elevation stucco completed. Interior drywall primed. Finish trim delivered.

Step 19 - Stucco

Sides and back stucco'd, front next. Interior drywall textured and ready for paint.

FEB 2012 - Lots to Remember

Wow there's been a lot going on... and I haven't been writing nearly as much as I usually do. 

A few highlights from the last few weeks:

Globetrotters

One of the Harlem Globetrotters ("HiLites") visited the boys school a week ago and did an assembly for them in conjunction with their annual Heart Association fundraiser, Hoops for Heart. I guess he put on a great show and the boys were dying to go see the Globetrotters play while they were here in Boise. They used their own money to buy their tickets and to buy one for me to take them. They watched videos on you tube leading up to the event- which was last Monday night. It was a big deal since it was a school night. The boys wanted Nana to come and I told them that she would have no interest in seeing them, but then when they mentioned it to her she lit up and said, "I have always wanted to see them! Can I come along?".  So it was me and Nana and the two boys for a night on the town. Brian and Faith stayed home and had a Movie Night with cookies and ice cream and Black Beauty.  I had no idea what to expect and I definitelyI had more fun watching the boys reaction to the show than watching the actual show myself. Hokey and silly but we had a great time. A ton of Hidden Springs residents were there so the kids knew a lot of people that were near us in the stands. We didn't get home until almost 10 at night, but surprisingly we didn't pay for it the rest of the week for once!

Faith's Dance "Recital"

Faith's dance class is held here in Hidden Springs in a resident's converted garage. It is a small space so most classes we are not really encouraged to stay and watch. But the first class of each month the teacher has all the parents take a seat around the outside edge of the dance floor so we can watch the whole thing. Faith was so excited for her brothers, Nana, daddy, and I to come watch her. The class is for 4/5 year olds and so many of the girls really don't listen and just goof around, but Faith takes it very seriously, listens to every direction the teacher gives, and clearly is trying so hard to get the steps right and to stay on the beat. Her brothers loved watching her and were so complimentary of her afterwards. It was literally heart-warming to hear them gush to her about how good she was and how proud they were of her. Of course, her Nana also loved watching her dance- especially the tap dance routine to Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. 

TBall/Baseball Returns

Sign-ups were several weeks ago and all three kids are raring to go. We didn't know if, when push came to shove, Faith would actually want to play- especially because we won't allow the kids to do two activities at once so to play tball she will have to stop dance lessons. But she was very clear that she wants to play this year.  Both of her brothers have lots of advice for her on how to pitch and hit and throw. She really hasn't shown much interest prior to now in wanting to practice these skills, but now she is asking Brian all the time to practice with her.  He is really good with her and, surprisingly, she accepts his instruction very gracefully. She and Tanner will be on the same team and Brian will be the coach. I can't wait for the season to start! Tanner has been practicing catching pop flys in our yard and on the green and I am amazed by his tenacity. He loves to "take batting practice" with Brian at the local field and I know is looking so forward to being on the team not only with his sister but also his best friend, Evan. Jake has to "try out" this year to be on the Triple A team so he has also been practicing as he really wants to "make it". If he isn't selected then he will have to play double A again and I am pretty sure he will be heartbroken. Several of his buddies have opted out this year, preferring instead to play soccer. He is a little disappointed but his heart is really with baseball and football and though he plays lots of soccer at recess, he has shown no interest in joining a team. Whew! Three sports a year are all I can take!  Even though baseball season will be hectic and crazy and will coincide with our move (more than likely) I am so excited for it to start in April. I love watching the kids play and also love the social time with the other moms and dads. Hopefully we will continue to have this mild winter and spring will be warmer this year so we can go to the games in sweatshirts and not parkas!

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

We had our first trip to the ER last week. I was at work late and when I walked in the house Faith was on the couch screaming bloody murder and Brian's shirt was covered in blood. The kids had been bouncing on the bed (Hmmmm... did I need to tell them 238 times NOT TO JUMP ON THE BED before it sunk in??) and Faith took a header into the headboard. She had a deep cut on her chin and two bad cuts inside her mouth. We called Nana who came and stayed with the boys while Brian and I took a trip down the hill to see a Dr. Luckily she didn't need stitches and he was able to glue the cut together.  She was a trooper through it all. When we got back home, she played it up to get lots of extra love from Nana on the couch.