Summer in the Neighborhood

The biggest critique I hear about Hidden Springs, from those that don't live here, is that it is too much like "The Truman Show" (the Jim Carrey movie), that the people that live here are  Stepford Wives (Ummmm... not sure anyone would describe me in that manner!) or that it is like Desperate Housewives (if this is the case I definitely am out of the loop on all the drama going on behind the scenes!). None of these is really very accurate in my mind. In fact, probably the best way to describe our neighborhood is as a modern day Mayberry. Still not everyone's cup of tea, but also not nearly as sinister as the other comparisons.  In any case, we love our little Mayberry and one of the things we like most is the community events. In the last two weeks we have had three great events.

The first was a concert on the green in mid-June. Great music, great friends, and perfect weather. Tanner and Faith rode their scooters in little "pre school and kindergarten gangs" around the Merc and through the closed parking lot for hours and I only had to check on them every once in awhile to be sure all was well. They knew where I was sitting and came and got me as needed. Lots of neighbors gathered with umbrellas and picnics and drinks and we hung out until way past bedtime.

The next week was the Annual Camp Out. Again, lots of neighbors and friends joined in the fun. We set up our giant tent and the boys each invited a friend to join us for the sleepover. There were s'mores and a campfire, a movie on the big screen outside at dusk (10PM here!), and a pancake breakfast the next morning. The kids all stayed up playing with their friends in the dark, playing light stick tag and light stick baseball until midnight and then sacked out until 7AM the next morning. 

We all slept amazingly well, but the fact that the kids only got 7 hours of sleep instead of their usual 10-12 was definitely felt the next day (actually it was felt for the following 3 days) which was nothing short of a nightmare. They were all overtired, hyper, and misbehaving. I think we are finally caught up on sleep now, despite being out until almost midnight again last night for the 4th of July.

Speaking of the 4th... Again, we didn't have to go far to enjoy the festivities. The kids and I watched the parade at 11AM from the front porch of a friend of ours on Hidden Springs Drive. They collected candy that was thrown from the people in the parade and used their water guns to soak the participants. We headed to the end of the parade route and joined in the party on the South Meadow Green (nearer to our new home) and stayed until almost 3PM. There was more music, BBQ, drinks, a bouncy water slide, and lots of friends.  

Having learned our lesson (see "lack of sleep" in paragraph 3 above) we required all the kids to nap from 3-5 because we were headed to the Hawks game and fireworks at 730. Only Faith slept but the boys rested and after an impromptu BBQ dinner of hamburgers, fruit salad, and corn on the cob (how patriotic!) with Sheila and Wayne we headed to our first Hawks game of the season. The weather couldn't have been better. Not too hot, a nice breeze blowing. It was a really fun night. The Hawks lost, but the kids loved the game, being there with Sheila and Wayne, and of course the fireworks display afterwards. Just like last year we sat very close to where they were being set off and got to witness several fire balls that nearly singed our eyebrows. Faith wasn't so pleased with that part of the night but the boys thought it was "awesome". Tanner did remark after the fireworks ended, however, that he "liked watching fireworks but he wouldn't want to have a job where he would have to set them off". Smart boy. So we had  a 4th of July that involved friends, family, fireworks, baseball, community BBQ, watermelon, and music. I'm not sure we could be more of a cliche but it was a great day!

All Stars and The Zoo

Summer baseball has been a point of discussion in our home for several months now with the debate being if we let Jake try out for All Stars ( a 3.5 week commitment but a very intense one) or just let him play summer ball- less intense and less competitive. In the end we pretty much left it up to Jake. We told him that if we let him do All Stars it would mean making a choice to give up some other stuff. With practices almost every evening we wanted to be sure that he knew what it meant:  fewer trips to the pool, fewer nights bouncing on the tramp, fewer play dates with friends. It also affected the first three weeks of summer: we haven't been able to take the boat out yet or go camping (although, to be fair, we probably wouldn't have done either of these things yet anyway due to the fact that we still haven't even finished moving in completely!). In the end Jake decided to try All Stars and the first 10 days has been crazy busy. 

We had a tournament last weekend with games on Thursday, Friday, and all day Saturday. Tanner and I went on Thursday night while Faith stayed with Nana. It was a beautiful night- a perfect evening for baseball. The boys won and played again on Friday. We sat out that game, letting Brian and Jake go alone, then decided to do the "marathon day" on Saturday. We were at the field from 11-7. Although a lot of it was fun and the kids had  a great time with their bubbles and balls that we brought along, it was also a lot of work on my part keeping them entertained, taking them back and forth to the porta potty and snack shack, etc... Tanner really enjoys the games, but Faith doesn't have much interest in them so she is a little trickier. The team played two games- winning the first and losing the second. The loss of the second meant that they were out of the tournament so there was no baseball on Sunday (I have to admit to being a little bit relieved that we wouldn't be at the ballpark again on Sunday!).  

We decided to let Faith choose a family activity for Sunday, being as she has had to be a major trooper through all this baseball. She decided to go to the zoo. So Sunday we headed out to breakfast at a new place downtown where we sat outdoors and even enjoyed a mimosa before heading to Zoo Boise.  We laid down the rules up front: Although we could walk through the gift shop there would be absolutely NO buying new "guys"!!!. She agreed and we all really enjoyed our morning with the monkeys, giraffes, and tigers. That afternoon we went to the pool together and that evening had a Family Movie Night. Even though it was a lot to fit into one Sunday, it all sort of just happened and it was really fun. 

I have been lamenting our loss of "Family Time" lately and realized just tonight that up until this point we have done almost everything as a team. Even the grocery store used to be a family affair and we all went to everyone's games and events. Lately though, with the kids getting older and their needs/interests being more diverse it has been more of a "divide and conquer" kind of thing. Brian will take Jake to baseball while I take Faith and Tanner to the park, or Brian stays home with Faith while I take Tanner and Jake to football camp, etc... I kind of miss the days of being able to do it all together. Actually.... I really miss it. It's not the same, and I miss being with Brian and with whichever child/children I am not with on the weekend and/or evenings.  It is yet another sign that our family is growing, the kids are getting older, and we are moving onto another stage in life. (And, as most of you know or remember: I am not good with change so I am having a difficult time with it right now!). 

Still, we have lots of great family stuff planned. This weekend is the Camp Out at the Green with our big tent, smores, movie at dusk outside, and a campfire. The next weekend will be another baseball tournament, and the weekend after that we have a boat trip on the calendar. Summer just always seems to go by so quickly... and there is never enough days in the season or hours in each day to do everything we want. At one of the tournament games last weekend an older gentleman (he was probably 75) looked at me with the two little kids and said, "You know this goes way too fast... enjoy it while you can. I was with my dad last year when he died at age 95 and I asked him, 'What surprised you most about life?' and he said, 'The brevity of it, Son, the brevity'.  I know you may not see it right now, but you really will miss this!".  Then he patted Faith and Tanner on the head and walked away. A good reminder and one I'd do well to remember on those days/ nights when I want to throw in the towel and sell them all to the highest bidder :)

Dad's Barbershop (Father's Day 2012)

“Parenthood...It's about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last.” 

― Peter Krause

After baseball all day yesterday, all I wanted to do today was take it easy. We went out to breakfast and then came home just to chill out and have a normal Sunday. Marisa and the kids went to the pool and I stayed in the AC (it's 95 today) to watch baseball and do laundry and mow the lawns. 


This week, it was time for haircuts for the boys. When we moved, I got a much larger workbench for my tools. Part of the area I sent up with a mirror so I can shave my head in the garage without getting hair all over the bathroom. Additionally, during the summer, when the boys have their short haircuts, I give them their cuts in the garage now. We've started calling it Dad's Barbershop. Here are a couple of pictures from Tanner's latest haircut. They really like the part where instead of brushing the hair of their necks, I just blow them off with the leaf blower. 


Later that night was Marisa's girls movie night out so the kids then went to Dad's Pizza Place on the patio where we had frozen pizza for dinner. We then got up the next day and spent all day together at the baseball fields watching baseball, which was awesome. 


Life is really great right now. We love the new house. All of the kids will be in the same school next year for a precious few years. The boys are starting to really get into the sports they love. Faith has really started to bloom, developing her own persona and really starting to be her own little person. We keep trying to get her interested and doing something, but everything we suggest she says, "Yes, that would be fun, but I don't want to do that". We'll keep trying, but until we figure it out, she's perfectly content to march to her own drumbeat.


So Father's Day weekend was a major success. I know that Marisa and the kids want it to be a bigger deal, want plans and goals and ideas. The truth is, I love my life each and every day, why would I want to do anything different?

Tournament Time

Jake played in his first Outlaw Tournament this weekend, and it was an experience. The tournament started on Thursday afternoon. Their first game was at 4:00. They lost to a team they had played before (while we were out of town). 


They played twice on Friday, playing at 8:00am first. We were up and out of the neighborhood by 6:30am. They lost that game as well, then played again at 12:00, also losing that game. Those three losses set up our seeding for the tournament on Saturday, ending up in the consolation bracket. We figured we would play 1st thing again in the morning on Saturday. They didn't get the seeding figured out until after 11:00 Friday night. I checked email when I woke up at 2:30 and found out we weren't playing until 12:00, which was awesome. I shut off the alarm and went back to sleep.


The won the 12:00 game, beating a Caldwell team in a great, tight game. Because they won, they played again at 4:00 that afternoon. By then they were just exhausted, and played like it, losing 14-3 to a year-round team that has been together for a couple of years. 


It was a lot of fun and a really good experience. This team will be on-going for the next year or two, in addition to regular baseball. We have an indoor facility to use here so they will be able to practice during the winter. The same coaching staff will be running the 9/10 All Stars team (tryouts are tomorrow night) and most of the same boys will be on that team as well.


Jake had fun in the tournament, did some work on how to handle losing and ended up going 1 for 4 with a run scored. He enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to continuing to play baseball for the next month or so. 

Bronco Football Camp 2012

Jake has done the Boise State Bronco Football camp for the last two years. This is the first year that Tanner has been able to do it as well. Jake has really enjoyed it the last two years, so Tanner was really excited to be able to do it this time. Jake took him up and introduced him to Coach Peterson the 1st day.


I have mentioned in the past that I like this camp because it was really well organized. They break the kids into three "leagues" based on age (Tanner was in the Arena League this year, Jake was in College). Then work on offensive drills, defensive drills, special team drills and then they play Bronco Ball, which is basically touch football. The coaches are all the BSU coaching staff and the kids get good instruction in the fundamentals and then have a lot of fun playing football. Additionally, the staff addresses the team each day about respect, teamwork and fair play.


Tanner did really well for his first time. He was one of the smallest kids on his team. He just went thru a growth sport and got taller, but is just skin and bones. He knows how to throw and catch though, so he was better than a lot of the kids in his league. He had fun doing the drills and enjoyed playing football, even scoring a couple of touchdowns. It's funny to see how he approaches it as opposed to Jake. Jake was always very into it and competitive during the games, getting upset when he threw an interception and cheering when his team scored. Tanner did what he was supposed to and was into it, but just seemed to roll with it more than Jake does. He's just more "Tanner" and it's really great to see how he's his own person and is true to himself. 

The camp was three days long and finished up today. Jake is still playing baseball, but Tanner is done with sports for a little bit as there really isn't anything for his age group that is appropriate for his skill level. Jake is still playing baseball and has practice tonight.


I did notice that there were considerably less kids at this years camp than in the past, it used to be packed. I wonder if this is the beginning of the trickle down of the concussion issue to youth football. Jake likely had a concussion last year in flag football and I'm nervous about him in tackle this year as he is so little for his age. I have gotten to a point that if they say they don't want to play football anymore it wouldn't break my heart, but in talking it over with Marisa, it's not something we will tell them they can't do. It will be interesting to see if Tanner is drawn to football the way Jake is. They are both so good at baseball, I'm hoping that sport just has a natural draw for them. They can play it for three seasons if they don't play football.

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.