5 Kids, 3 Dogs, 6 Adults, and 2 Houses

Mom moved in over Memorial Day Weekend. Yippee.... we have grandma as a neighbor!! (Well, not officially until mid-October when she comes to stay for the winter and spring, but, still, it is VERY exciting!) My dad, Lisa, John, the two girls, and their two puppies came up to help with the move. There was actually more fun to be had than there was actual moving- although all the work DID get done by Monday morning. We spent Saturday at the Farmer's Market downtown and the zoo, then Sunday we went to the pool and then out to dinner. In between the cousins played and played and played while Lisa and John shuttled the puppies from our house to Nana's house, depending on which house Tanner happened to be in at any given moment. He was terrified of them and screamed hysterically whenever they dared occupy the same room as him. Poor guy was a little traumatized but when they left he made sure to wave goodbye to Niblet and Rocky and acted very much as if they were his best friends even though in reality he could barely look at them through the patio door without freaking out! Jake adored his cousins like usual. Faith hung out with everyone (well.... except that mean ol' Papa!) and tried not to let the four front teeth she is getting bother her too much.

Lisa and family left on Monday morning, Dad left on Tuesday afternoon, and Mom stayed on to finish the fun stuff- unpacking boxes, arranging knickknacks, going to Target to get supplies, etc...

Sadly, Brian's grandma was hospitalized with pneumonia and taken off life support on Thursday, so he drove to Northern California early Friday morning and stayed through the weekend to offer support, say goodbye, and spend time with his Dad's side of the family. Mom graciously stayed on to help me with the kids. We introduced them to the fine art of garage sales: Each of the boys took $5 out of their piggy bank on Saturday and we went to lots of houses. They bought all sorts of stuff! The biggest hit, however, is the Tinker Toys- the old fashioned kind. Both Tanner and Jake are loving building cool things with them. Faith found a plastic xylophone that she simply couldn't part with, so it now has permanent residence in our home.
Like our house needed more NOISE???

Three of Faith's teeth popped through and she is walking like she has been doing it since she was born. She loves to swing on the swingset in the backyard, dump anything out onto the ground, and take her shoes off (and try to put them back on unsuccessfully). She enthusiastically blows kisses and has added "Mine!" to her repetoire of words.

Tanner has begun singing to amuse himself- his favorites being: Take Me Out to the Ballgame and The ABC's. He also has started saying, "What's up CHICKENS?" to Nana, Jake, and I, and giggling like it is the funniest thing in the world (which it kind of is actually). He is truly a little imp and continues to test, test, test. He also pushes me in the chest (in a joking way) and says, "BACK OFF, BABY!". He is a character and a half.

Jake is getting really good at skateboarding and swimming and continues to amaze me by how many people he knows in our neighborhood. His Kindergarten had an Open House and a carnival last week and I think he will know 30-40% of the kids in his class next year. We just finished reading the second Fudge book- thank goodness he is done with the Scooby Doo chapter books for now!!

They are all adapting well to our new nanny situation, although Tanner keeps asking me when he will get to go to school again. We've only had Vanessa with us for four days, but so far she seems great. She has brought new things to the house for the kids to play with each day, has taken them to the library twice, and had TJ and Jake make charts- Jake's is to record how many books he reads and Tanners to record his potty successes (to date there are NO stickers on Tanner's chart, and about 20 on Jake's!). Potty training for boy #2 is proving to be more of a challenge. I am still unsure on the "Nanny vs. Daycare" thing, but it definitely makes my mornings more manageable and less hectic. Now if I could only get that neighborhood job I've been angling for....(the original reason for hiring a nanny!)

Happy Mothers Day 2008

Mother's Day started early for us. 5:00 last night marked the first concert of the season in Hidden Springs. The entire community came out to celebrate- both Mother's Day and the fact that spring is here to stay finally. We all had such a great time- we know so many more people in the neighborhood than we used to- either due to T-Ball or Jake attending daycare at Theresa's house or both.

Jake just ran around, riding his scooter, playing with various kids while we ate hotdogs, shared beers with friends, kept our eye on Tanner and Faith and checked every once in awhile to make sure Jake was still somewhere nearby. He is a little social butterfly and introduced me to at least 5 new people during the concert.

Faith liked walking around to everyone else's picnics and helping herself to their food. As of yesterday her walking to crawling ratio is about 8 to 2. She is really proud of herself! Tanner pretty much followed Jake everywhere. The ICEE shack opened, too, and happened to coincide with a card from Grandma Mary that included a 10 dollar bill since "a little bird had told her" that the shack was back. We stayed out until almost 8PM and the kids just crashed when we got home.

The fun continued today with Brian taking the kids downstairs at 6:45 and letting me sleep in. I woke up to presents from Jake- a smorgasboard (I have NO idea how to spell that!) of cards, pictures, candles, notebooks, paper roses, etc... He was very excited. Tanner opened his gift to me before we even left daycare on Friday- it is an adorable hand,food, hand, foot print artwork that he made with his teachers there. Faith made a similar project with a flower- her hand-prints were the leaves. Brian made me a beautiful slide show DVD with pictures of the three kids with "I Can't Stop Loving You" as the background music. Made me cry.

After a rocky morning- behavior wise- we gave all the kids early naps with the plan to ride our bikes out to a local restaurant for lunch. After living here almost two years we finally rode on the Greenbelt. and we can't believe it took us so long to discover it! You can ride all the way downtown along the river. There are restaurants, parks, and playgrounds along the way. The kids all loved it. We ended up at the same place we had eaten our Easter dinner at (Joe's Crab Shack). We ate outside in the sunshine, then stopped at a playground and went out for ice cream on the way home. All in all it was a 3+ hour venture. It was early baths and early bedtime all around.

The following picture is of the newborn baby birds that were born this weekend in the nest that the "crazy robin" built above our hot tub. This particular bird has been attacking the windows of our house for the last three months, and we could not figure out why, eventually, she gave up and built a nest on top of our stereo speaker - thus earning her nickname. Happy Mothers Day to you too Crazy Robin.

Nana's Visit

I think all of the kids are loving having Nana here. She has had a nice long visit and instantly became part of the neighborhood. I'm not sure what we'll do when she leaves! Jake automatically crawls into her bed when he wakes up in the middle of the night or early AM; Tanner starts each day "making his list" with her, sitting on her lap and reciting things we need at the grocery store; Faith is comfortable with Nana putting her to sleep some nights and loves to play the "Don't Push Me" game. I have to say that not having to think about what to make for dinner each night has been an incredible treat!

I just got around to finishing this post. Nana left on Friday and so far we have survived admirably- though of course she is missed! Thanks for ALL your help, Mom. What with Faith vomiting on you several times and hanging out around our general chaos for three weeks, I find it difficult to believe that you miss us (although that is what you told me this morning when we talked!).

We had a great weekend- sunny outside, lots of playtime interspersed with trips to the grocery store, Costco, Home Depot, etc... Brian planted out front and generally cleaned up the yard while I talked to neighbors, took the kids on walks, played kickball and baseball and tag, and just generally had a great time. The ice cream truck came by for the first time today and the boys loved that, of course! The boys are very into skateboarding and played for quite awhile on the sidewalk, doing their tricks. Faith is practicing walking and doing it more frequently, but she still prefers to crawl most places- even on the concrete outside- the poor knees are getting a little ragged.

We topped off the weekend with a "date night"- our first one since the Brad Paisley concert at the end of January!! I'm pretty sure that I should advertise the new form of birth control for Hidden Springs teenagers: "Come Babysit for The Alan Family!" Both Faith and Tanner were screaming bloody murder when we left- Emily definitely had her hands full. But it turns out that Faith fell asleep on Emily's shoulder, and both Tanner and Jake gave her huge hugs when she left, so I guess the evening turned around for her. Still, I gotta think it's a deterrent!

We have been busy lately (more than the usual, I mean) because I have been job searching and also nanny searching. The original impetus for exploring the nanny route was more of a convenience thing: the school I am applying to is located in Hidden Springs about two blocks away. If I get the job, it won't make any sense to drive the kids all the way downtown for daycare. After exploring the limited neighborhood daycares available (one!) we thought we'd better start looking around. We ended up deciding to try a nanny next year, regardless of whether or not I change jobs. Lots of reasons, not the least of which is the sickness factor (One gets sick, has to stay home, either Mom or Dad have to skip work, that one infects the next one, that one has to stay home.... you get the idea) . So... I've interviewed quite a few and we're hoping to hire one by the end of the school year. We have loved having the kids in daycare and credit their teachers for a large portion of the "good stuff" that they have in their personalities. But it is a lot more hectic in the AM and I'd rather have that hour to play, relax, and eat breakfast together than spend it shoving food into everyone's mouths, hustling everyone into clothes, brushing teeth,etc... for a quick departure. There are definitely pros and cons, but we're going to give it a shot for next school year.

So.... how are we? Well, the kids crack us up constantly. We make each other laugh just as frequently. LOST started again. And spring has FINALLY arrived. Not sure we could ask for much more than that.

Play Ball!

Jake was so excited all day- from the moment he woke up he was asking when T-Ball started. Even Tanner was looking forward to it and spent the entire car ride to school telling me all about how we would be going to "Jake's game" after school. Brian and Jake got there early to set up, while Mom and I picked up the little ones from daycare, took them out to dinner, then drove to the game. It was beautiful weather and as we walked to the field from the parking lot, the Pirates flag (that Brian purchased off of Amazon!) was flying in the breeze. The sides were lined with parents' chairs (Note for next game: Bring a chair!) and we settled in with Tanner on Nana's lap and Faith crawling/attempting to walk along the sidelines.

It was a such a fun family night- great parents, great coaching (if I do say so myself!), and the kids all had a blast. Jake looked so proud standing out there on first base in "ready position". It wasn't nearly as chaotic as I had thought- there was even a play made at first in the second inning (Jake wasn't first baseman at the time, unfortunately). Tanner and Faith loved it- neither one fussed for one minute even though it was past their bedtime. Tanner cheered his brother on and Faith made new friends with some other little girls there. Jake impressed all the parents nearby by the sweet way he treated his little brother and sister- making his mom very proud!


At the end of the game, Jake's enthusiasm was contagious. He was on cloud 9 and asked me if I had seen him out there. He had a huge smile on his face. It was so much fun watching Brian coach. He is so good with all the kids, encouraging and friendly, spending more energy on promoting sportsmanship and teamwork than on skills. I know he feels out of his element doing this, but he is really good at it! I loved talking to the other parents and getting to know some more people in our neighborhood.

Pirate Fans

Both Tanner and Faith have come to all of Jake's T-Ball practices and joined the Opening Day festivities as well.

A you can see from the photos, Tanner thinks he is actually on the team - we had some extra shirts and hats. The only reason that he hasn't tried to go out onto the field yet has been his new and unfounded (by any negative experiences), fear of dogs. There have been dogs at both practices so far and he has refused to get out of the stroller. It will be interesting to see what happens the first time there are no dogs around. He says, "Dada...T-Ball....owside" all the time and loves to play ball in the house.

On the other hand, Faith is perfectly happy to be a spectator right now as she has her own stuff going on....she is finally walking...yeah baby girl! She is still a little unsteady, but just stands up in the middle of the floor, all by herself, gets her balance and then tries a few steps. So far the furthest she has made has been eight steps before she plops back down, But she smiles from ear to ear and is obviously very proud of herself!

Enjoy the baseball season, I know we will here.

Opening Day

Okay, so we have had two practices now and our Opening Day was this past Saturday. We have one more practice before our first game against the Tigers on Thursday. One of Jake's school friends is on the Tigers so he is very eager for that game.

I am having a little bit of fun doing this; those of you who know me know that being polite and civil to large groups of strangers is not "in my wheelhouse" to use a baseball term, but if I grit my teeth enough to get thru that part of it, the kids are really great and they are having a blast so far (I think anyway...). It's kind of a tightrope to keep practices fun and yet mildy organized, but I think it has been okay so far. We play "freeze-tag" instead of warm-up running (I have almost collapsed twice), we play freeze baseball so they can learn who is supposed to go for the ball (their default programming is everyone....) and what they are supposed to do after they get it, we do our drills and play our "scrimmage". The best part of every practice (and I remember this from my own Little League and Soccer days) is snack break. Practice is one hour and snack break is about 15 minutes of that, so we're not taking it too seriously.

This has been a good way for Marisa and I to meet other families up in Hidden Springs as all of the kids on our team are from here. But we have years of this to look forward to; ferrying kids to practices and games, being roped into managing or being "snack coordinator" (Marisa's job this year...) and are trying to ease into it. As an illustration, I had a new parent call and ask if their kid can join our team late, I said sure if the league says okay. She asked what the practice schedule was and I said we had games on Tues or Thurs and we practiced the other day. She was quiet for a minute and then said, "So nothing on Saturday? That's so.....great! Thank you!"

After pictures on Opening Day, there were run, hit and throw stations that you could cycle through as a team and compete for prizes. I gave the parents and kids the option to go for it or not and we voted to give it a shot. We did the running and the throwing, but the system really bogged down at the hitting station and pretty much everyone bailed at that point. Only one kid went thru the hitting station, and I know what your thinking, but I asked her to turn in my clipboard for me when they were done with it.....

P.S. Not to be that dad/coach guy, but look at Jakes form in the two pictures above. The kid is a natural!

Kid Update- April 2008

I'll go in order of age:

I guess the big thing for Jake is that he is going to a daycare in our neighborhood for the remainder of the year. Kindergarten was getting to be a little too much for him and he was exhausted each day. We tried shortening his day, but he just needed a little more play time and less structured learning time. Hopefully I haven't scarred him for life by having him in Kindergarten a little early. Hopefully he learned that he is capable and also that mom and dad listen when he earnestly tells us "it is too much". He did great- made some really nice friends, became more artistic and creative, building and constructing all sorts of things out of discarded materials; discovered the joy of science, started learning how to read, and became a "writer" that LOVES creative writing due to their Writers Workshop program. I don't regret putting him at Foothills, but am very glad that he is going to get to play more for the remainder of the school year and that he will just have 3 hours/day of K next year. The picture was done on the computer recently, after Brian picked him up from Theresa's house early one day.

Despite the last post (The Hockey Stick Tantrum of 2008) he is overall a great kid and fun to be around. He is loving (most of the time!) to his brother and sister (although the other day he did tell me that he wished he only had one sibling. I reminded him how sad he would be if Faith wasn't in our family and he said, "No, Mom. I want to keep Faith. It's TANNER I want to send back!".) He is so excited about T-Ball starting. The first practice is tomorrow. He continues to love sports of all kinds and takes to them naturally.

Tanner is potty training. Everyday after school he reports on how many times he "peed in urnal". He is very aware of pooping- especially when his sister is trying to poop. He tells us, "Mom, Bobby (that's "Baby" in TJ's words...) pooping. Trying hard. UGHHHHHHHHH (simulated pooping)". Very funny stuff. They are obviously trying to teach the kids at the daycare how to handle the situation if another person does something to hurt you. Lately Tanner has been very vocal whenever one of us (on purpose, or more frequently, accidentally) hits him (or taps him in an uncomfortable way!). This is what he says: "NO HIT ME! NO LIKE IT! NO THANK YOU!" And he will repeat it and repeat it like it has been recorded and is running on a loop.

He loves to play baseball and hits the balls clear across the living room often times almost knocking over knickknacks and such. I think our playing ball in the house rules may need to be adapted soon due to his sheer hitting strength. There was an extra TBall uniform for him and even though the shirt goes down past his knees, he loves to put it on along with his Pirates hat and act just like his big brother. He loves to snuggle at bedtime and puts his head on my head and arms around me. He is getting interested in letters of the alphabet and can recognize many of them, which he loves to show us. He also loves to count and frequently counts the stairs as he walks up/down them. He continues to test, test, test. That little twinkle in his eye appears and you just know you are in trouble!

Faith is starting to walk. Brian said that she took three steps the other day - I missed it!! She loves to stand up, but then often just sits back down with a plop instead of trying to move forward. Her brothers are her biggest cheerleaders. She is now addicted to Sprinkles (her giraffe) and we have to literally pry her chubby little fingers from around his neck each morning.

She loves to eat and her face lights up when she sees one of her favorite foods. She is saying "nana" for "banana", mama, dada, all done, and thank you. I can't wait for spring time warm weather so I can start to dress her in all the cute little outfits that she has.

Play Ball!

So, fatherhood for me lately has been a fairly constant diet of eating my words. For example, I have always said that I wouldn't be one of those short-tempered Dad's who gets upset with their kids for just being kids. But, when you child wakes up having, "had a bad dream", and has to sleep in your bed for the rest of the night for the 114th night in a row...I mean come on! That's just not possible! I am exhausted and sleep the sleep of the dead, how come they don't?

Anyway, the latest meal of paternal crow was served up when the T-Ball teams were formed. I have always said that I would be the Dad who comes to every game and practice, is encouraging and supportive, and SITS IN THE STANDS. I had no desire to coach, especially my own kids....in fact thinking about doing it always made me break out in a sweat. I refused to be THAT guy. I love sports and I think my kids will love sports, but it's up to them and I didn't want to insert myself into that process by being a coach and being an extra layer of thought if it's something they ended up not wanting to do.

Cut to Sunday night. We have been waiting for the T-Ball teams to be assembled for awhile, opening day is next weekend. I got a phone call stating, "the guy who is supposed to have been coordinating this hasn't, so we are three weeks behind and if you don't coach then there is no team.". So what else do you do in that situation? I said okay. All of the paperwork was delivered the next day, and come to find out that six other Dad's put down that they were willing to be an assistant, same as I did....I got PLAYED! Once they were all contacted, I got a chorus of "better you than me" and "thanks for volunteering"...so I couldn't get out of it.

So a week of fund-raising, meetings, paperwork and scheduling later, I sit here typing as the manager of the Hidden Springs Pirates. Thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets!

I emailed my buddy Coach Dave, who has been coaching baseball at the High School level longer than I have known him, to ask what was appropriate to try and teach kids at this level, he emailed back, "Two words: Good Luck!". Thanks Dave, I think I'm gonna need it.....

It's Times Like This That I Wish I Were a Heavy Drinker

So, Brian was out of town Wed. and Thursday this week. After having it basically under control on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I figured Thursday night would be a breeze. Just a few hours until Daddy comes home. Uh... nope.

Faith is teething (for real this time) and refused to let me put her down. If I (god forbid) put her on the ground to, say, grab the bat out of Tanner's hands before he bludgeneond his brother with it, she would scream like her hair was on fire. So, to make life easier, I decided to put her in the stroller and take them all out for a nice neighborhood walk. It was a gorgeous evening so all the neighbors were out to witness what happened next.

The boys brought their hockey sticks and balls to play with on the sidewalk, I pushed the stroller and encouraged Tanner to keep up (poor kid is going to end up a fast walker like me simply because if he doesn't he will be left in the dust).

About 2 minutes into our walk Tanner spotted a dog. He is terrified of dogs. This one, although it was the approximate size and shape of a football, was no exception. He started running down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. So, i left the stroller, ran after him, and let Faithy scream her heart out since I was out of direct eye contact. I scooped up Tanner, now trying to push Faith while still letting her see my face, and hold Tanner (still screaming) with his hockey stick and all. At this point, my eldest son decided to throw the tantrum of all tantrums. I can't even remember what he was mad about but he was exhausted and he just LOST it. There were tears, there was yelling, he told me that I was the worst mommy ever and that he would not longer "let me" get coffee. I guess that was the worst threat he could think of- taking away my favorite luxury. At one point took his hockey stick and brandished it in front of my face in a threatening gesture. I immediately took the hockey stick and told him he lost it for the night and next day. This prompted a loud, screaming, tug-of-war with said hockey stick with me trying desperately to calm Tanner down and ignore Faith's continued screams. Remaining calm, I spit wonderful parenting words out of my mouth such as, "I have never been so embarrassed in my life!" and "Get yourself inside immediately or there will be no dessert and no movie for a week!". My neighbors watched on with amusement, I am sure. Things didn't improve upon entering the sanctuary of our house- except that now I was no longer suffering publically. I put the hockey stick way out of reach and Jake, now hysterical with irrational pleas, tried to climb up chairs to get it down while begging me to change my mind. It was not a pretty sight. All the while Faith was still sobbing (I just gave up even trying with her) and Tanner, after having calmed down about the football dog, was now crying hysterically about Milo "trying to get" him.

This is when I put the boys in front of the TV, put Faith to bed, got out the Ben and Jerry's and cranked up the song, "You're Gonna Miss This" and just LAUGHED.

Pillow Talk

Kim, Bill, Abby, and Aidan joined us this last weekend for a cousin fest. It was controlled chaos but everyone had a really good time. It's been so great of them to fly here to see us so frequently since our move. I love to get the kids together and catch up as they play.

The funniest thing that happened was the little blossoming romance between Jake and Abby. When I put Jake to sleep each night I love the few minutes that we get to cuddle and talk about our day. I usually find out some really interesting things. So...the first night that Abby was here I was putting Jake to sleep and he put his hands around my ear and whispered, "Can I tell you a secret?". He continued- kind of sheepishly- without waiting for an answer, "Did you know that Abby and I KISSED?". I asked, "You mean on the lips?" Jake's reply: "Yeah! We did it lots of times!" When I inquired as to when this little interlude had occurred he said it was while they were hiding during a game of hide-and-seek earlier in the evening. He said, "Mommy, don't tell anyone, but I'm going to marry Abby."Then he got pensive and told me that he still had a crush on Chloe at school. "How do you KNOW which girl to marry, Mom? I want to marry both of them!" he said. I then explained the rule about cousins marrying. That made the decision easier for him. Every time Abby and Jake disappeared to go play, the adults all looked at each other, wondering if there was any hanky-panky going on! In any case, the concern was unfounded as the romance never made it past the first kiss. The next night he was on the outs with Abby for one reason or another so at bedtime he told me, "I AM NEVER MARRYING ANY GIRL!!" I assured him this was just fine, but he could decide for sure when he got older. His next reply? A very worried question: "Mom, I don't want to get married, but I do want to raise babies. Can I do that?" I reminded him about adoption and how his friend Avery at school had been adopted. I told him he could choose to adopt babies if he remained single. That prompted him to say, "I still don't understand that. How do you GET the baby? Do you have to find THEM or do THEY walk up to you?" Priceless. I think all the nights of endless bedtimes were worth it to lead me to this sweet pillow talk. I can only hope he will still open up to me as he gets older!

Happy Easter

After scrambling for candy-filled eggs at our neighborhood Easter party on Saturday, we decided the kids could do without more sugar, so we hid eggs with clues in them to lead each of the kids to a "practical" Easter present. Jake and Tanner had a great time searching the house for eggs, then Jake put his new reading skills to use by unscrambling sentences to figure out where to look for the hidden presents. Faith's clues led the kids to our bathroom where she found a swimsuit from us, a princess towel from Auntie Sue, and a riding truck from Grandma Mary. The boys' clues led them to their own beds where they discovered street hockey sticks from Grandma Mary, towels from Auntie Sue, and shoes from us. Jake got cleats for the upcoming T-ball season and since Tanner has a major shoe fetish, he got some pretty cool Vans with Spiderman on them which he immediately put on and has yet to take off.

Tanner was terrified of the Easter Bunny. He paid a surprise visit at the party on Saturday and he wouldn't go anywhere near him. The rest of the weekend he kept repeating, "Bunny no get me! Bunny no get me!". Jake announced on Easter Eve that he knew the Easter Bunny wasn't real- "it's just a guy in a suit that hops around to houses".

Luckily my prediction of a hockey stick injury within a day of receiving them was unfounded. Although now the pitch back machine that was in our living room has been replaced with a hockey goal.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter Sunday!

Jake's Birthday - Phase 4 of 4

Today is Jake's actual birthday (St. Pats day). He got to pick the meal ("sugar" ham, cheesy rice, and peas) and Grandma got him a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich to serve as a cake. I was going to write a running list of things I want to remember, or things that I love, or things that make me proud of Jake. But this story pretty much says it all for me...

We were playing football in the living room the other day (yep, the living room...), when Jake asked me if Tanner had two kidneys. Now, if you don't know, Jake only has one kidney and knows that he won't be allowed to play football (his favorite sport), or hockey, karate, any kind of contact stuff when he get's bigger. This hasn't been a big deal so far, but my guess has always been that it will be a big deal at some point, so I have always tried to be open and honest and direct with him about it. So I figured this was it, as soon as he figures out that Tanner can play football and he can't, the sh%# will hit the fan, right?

So I answered that, yes,Tanner has two kidneys, and braced myself....Jake thought for a minute and looked up at me and said, "That's good.... so I can go sit in the stands and cheer for him!". I swear to God I almost cried, I'm almost crying again typing it.

I love you Jake, Happy Birthday, you make your Daddy very , very proud!

Jake's Birthday - Phase 3 of 4

Phase 3 was the "family" party. This is where Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue took over the event (this is also why there were no shortage of presents).

We decided to do the family party yesterday on Sunday as we wanted to be able to get past the birthday thing and back into a little bit more of a normal week for school on Monday (his real b-day). Also, let's face it, the kid's birthday was starting to rival Mardi Gras in duration.

So when Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue are involved in a party, there are themes, games, presents etc. When they said they were coming out for Jake's birthday, I decided to let go, not fight them on it and let them have their fun. Jake always has a good time when they are around, so he really enjoyed his family party as well. He got a Patriots Jacket, a new Brett Farve jersey, two new board games and a bunch of smaller presents, which I was informed weren't presents, but "prizes" for winning some of the various games. Tanner and Faith both got presents for Jakes birthday as well. Tanner got some new crocs (the boy loves shoes) and he also had a great time playing the games as you can see in the photos above.

Jake had a great birthday and I think was ready for a little bit of a let-down on his actual birthday (phase 4).

Jakes Bithday - Phase 2 of 4

So Phase 2 of Jake's birthday was his "friends" party. We had this at our house on Saturday. Jake made out the guest list, picked the snacks, drinks and desserts, and if you can't tell from the photos, made out the party agenda as well.

We played a backyard game of football, until, boys being boys, it got too rough and we had to move to a pass catching drill (that's Greg @ defensive back). One quick note on the too rough stuff; I supervised this portion of the party (Marisa got the duck-duck-goose section), and I was prepared for it. My poor wife did not understand that 8 - 5 to 7 year old boys in one location (away from school) is the one and only true recipe for barely contained chaos and anarchy. They yell, they scream, they fight, and if someone doesn't get hurt, it's a miracle worthy of note. Anyway, my point was, all of Jake's friends (ALL, not MOST) are bigger than he is. Even when of the big kids didn't want to play football because it was too rough, Jake was at the bottom of the pile, hands on the football every time. The poor kid got killed by all of the bigger kids, but hung in there and took a beating. Okay...proud Dad moment #1 over.

All of the kids were given the opportunity to paint their faces and put on tatoos for all of the games. Jake and Tanner both had a blast painting their faces and we have enough paint left that I am sure they will have it on in their easter pictures and 4th of July photos etc. There were football and baseball cards galore for goodie bags and sports stickers as well.

As Jake does not like cake (that he didn't inherit from me, I singlehandedly polished off Faithy's cake). He picked ice cream sundaes with BSU colored sprinkles for his dessert. This was followed by candy once the pinata was broken (that's my boy in the Tom Brady jersey and the BSU hat!).

Then there were inside games; duck-duck-goose, bowling, and an electronic football passing game up in the boys room, followed by more general chaos until everyone left. I think that all of the kids had a good time and that the party was an overall success. Jake got more footballs, baseballs and BSU stuff for gifts. The weather held which was great, it was supposed to rain/snow, but we were able to play outside and preserve some of Marisa's sanity...

Jake's Birthday - Phase 1 of 4

Smudge was Phase 1. Despite what you have read here, this was not solely my doing. The only thing that I am guilty of is of having had ferrets before, and having liked them. Jake wanted a pet, and to be fair, it was Marisa that decided we would go to the kids fair, where, with Pete as my witness, Zamzows had a booth set up that had several ferrets in it.

Now, Jake wanted a pet for his b-day and I tried to be as up front as I could about how ferrets behave. They are very much like kittens, they wrestle, play, stalk and attack for fun. They know that they are playing so they don't bite hard, but they do bite. I told Jake this up front. Well you know how it turned out, now we have two nondescript goldfish. For the record, I do want it stated that Smudge was a great little ferret, and if I had the time, he would still be here. His only crime was being a ferret.

This was Phase 1 of Jake's b day and his present from Mom and Dad. Therefore, there were no other gifts from us going forward (trust me there was no shortage).

Smudge Bites The Dust

No, he didn't die. But he has returned to the lovely oasis of Zamzow's- the neighborhood pet store.
Smudge was under a 14 day money-back guarantee which I was quite happy to take advantage of last weekend. They took EVERYTHING back- cage, leash (Yes, you can take them for walks), food dish, etc.... We are now the proud owners of two much more realistic and hassle free GOLDFISH named Coconut and Carrot (Tanner named them). Smudge was cute, but he nipped. He was just a kit so he hadn't been litter box trained. Brian soon realized he didn't have the time to deal with him and while he liked the IDEA of owning a ferret, the reality was something a bit different- not quite the same as owning them when you are single with no children. Anyway... Jake wasn't too sad to see him go since he was a bit frightened of him and I think it was actually a bit of a relief. Tanner, on the other hand, is still asking us, "Smudge? Home? Why???"

First Trip Around the Sun

We celebrated a day late due to a bad flu bug in our household but Faith didn't seem to mind.
Grandma Mary and Jake baked her cake and decorated it as I was in bed recovering from above mentioned flu epidemic.

After sleeping most of the week away, Faith and I both rallied for the party . Forget using hands, she just dove her face right in the cake. She loved it! Her favorite present was a pink "Little People" school bus which she defends just short of her life when Tanner tries to take it. She also got a baby doll and stroller which Tanner immediately usurped. He spent most of the weekend putting the baby to bed, feeding her, and rolling her around the kitchen in her stroller. So far it is OK with Faith, but God help Tanner if she decides she wants it back: She can screech and grab with the best of 'em. Her spring wardrobe is now complete with adorable dresses from both grandmas, Auntie Sue, and her mommy, of course. Even Dad got into the fun, buying her a summer "blouse" and sparkly jeans. As you can see, Tanner took her Easter hat for himself. That's OK.... we couldn't get her to keep it on anyway.

Another first has come and gone. Faith continues to charm us everyday with her good nature, easy smile, and adorable giggles. She is learning to talk and so far we can deduce: "All done!", "Thank you!", "Dada", and "Nana" (for banana). She only has half a tooth- I don't know if this one EVER intends on coming in all the way- and no others are even on the horizon. She's gotten really good at gumming her food. She still pushes her truck around but has not gotten any closer to walking on her own yet. That's just fine with me- she's growing up too fast as it is!

Dear Faith,

Somewhere along the years of growing up you are going to hear that you were "a surprise" or you were "not planned" or you were "an oops". (Probably by one of your brothers- or maybe your Grandpa!). I want you to know, today of all days, that even though you may not have been on our radar screen, that even though you were unexpected , you are the greatest gift I have ever gotten. You are a true blessing in my life and in our family.

I don't know a better way to say it than by putting the lyrics here of the song that was playing the first time I ever held you in the hospital. It's called, "Find Yourself" and it's by Mommy's favorite country singer, Brad Paisley.


"Well you go through life
so sure of where you're heading
And you wind up lost
and its the best thing that could have happened
Cause sometimes when you lose your way, its really just as well
because you find yourself,
yeah that's when you find yourself.

When you meet the one, that you've been waiting for
and she's everything, that you want and more
You look at her and you finally start to live for someone else
And then you find yourself,
yeah that's when you find yourself

-Brad Paisley


Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Smudge Joins The Fun

First the tattoo.... now this. What is happening to my good sense?

Smudge, a 3 month old ferret, joined our family this weekend.

No, I am not joking.

We have been promising Jake for months that he could get a pet for his fifth birthday. I kept pushing him toward fish ("Honey, aren't they cute how they pucker their lips like that?"), but he was fairly insistent on a mammal of some sort- guinea pig, hamster, rat, etc... I don't enjoy any of these animals, and out of desperation began pushing reptiles- "How about a frog, Buddy? Frogs are SO cool. No? Ok, how about a turtle? Look how sweet he is with his head tucked up in his shell!"

I even tried to encourage a hermit crab- I found one with a shell painted like a football, sure that this would do the trick.

No. He kept coming back to a mammal, and a ferret in particular. Not without some prompting from his father, of course. Brian owned ferrets before he met me (You all knew he was weird already, so don't act so surprised!) and since our first trip to Tahoe as a newly dating couple he has been trying to get me to fall in love with the furry little creatures myself. It became a running joke- Mom even got him a book on ferret care for Christmas. I insisted (and I quote...) "WE WILL GET A FERRET OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Well, clearly I am not dead.
Must mean I caved.
Out of the choices of mammals available, I decided a ferret was at least a little more interactive than most and not as yucky to me as the other limited options.

There were, however, some stipulations:

1. All care, including but not limited to: litter box cleaning, bathing, playing with, and feeding of Smudge is Jake and Brian's job.

2. Smudge lives in his cage with supervised playtime each day after school in the boys bedroom with one of the boys or Brian present.

3. Smudge does not get free run of the house*

*except during the day when Brian works from home at which time it is OK if Smudge runs loose around the office with the doors shut.

In any case, Smudge is Jake's pet. And he loves him to death. Having him for one day already has some great benefits: Jake and Tanner have been up in their room playing with him non-stop. Up to this point getting either one to actually PLAY in their PLAYROOM was close to impossible, both of them preferring to play any multitude of sports in our living room.

Tanner loves him, too. Faith, much like her mother, is undecided.

As you can see, Milo is not so sure about our new house guest, either. While I am sure they will be buddies eventually, right now they are in kind of a stand-off.

Stay tuned for details as they arise. I could end up loving the little guy. I am trying to get to know him and give him a chance. On the other hand,
it is possible that a rant on "ferret ownership" is in this blog's future.

Some Dad Updates

Well, I don't know what happened to winter, but it certainly has wimped out in the last few weeks. We got a whole night and day of snow right before Pete came and it was pretty much all gone by the next day. We're pretty much outdoor creatures so Grandpa Pete was treated to tennis in the cold February air and an excruciatingly cold and windy fishing trip while he was here, both of which he handled with great aplomb.

We had an excellent visit which Marisa detailed in her post. Now that I am sufficiently recovered from my posting frenzy while she was gone, there are a couple of details that I want to memorialize as well. Speaking of trips, I am out on business trips twice in March....I better not get any grief for being gone.....

This is a picture that we took of the boys in the park a week or so ago that I just love. Their relationship is starting to develop it's own nuances that are really interesting to watch. Tanner wants to do everything that Jake does and is a willing participant in anything Jake wants to do. This includes; going upstairs to get clothes, putting toys away or going to the bathroom. Jake yells," Tanner, do you want to do XYZ?" to which Tanner excitedly yells, "Yeah!". The only difference is movies. The boys alternate days picking the morning and evening movies. Tanner loves it when it is his day (and he can watch any permutation of Shrek that he wants), and makes sure that he rubs it in his brother's (who can't stand Shrek at this point) face all day long. First thing in the morning, from bed, "Dada, my pick, movie?". "Yes, Tanner your pick movie." "Jake, MY pick movie". This conversation is repeated down the stairs, to the couch and until the movie starts. We then start fresh while I am unloading them from the car after school.

They also have begun being boys more by; fighting, wrestling and farting. Jake gets very frustrated with Tanner sometimes, and as boys (and older brothers) are wont to do, sometimes pushes or hits Tanner. He gets time out for this. Tanner retaliates by hitting or pushing Jake, trying to get him in trouble. Tanner is a great love, but he can also be a little sh*# sometimes when he wants to be. He LOVES to antagonize.....Both he and Jake love a good fart or burp and laugh and laugh....so glad we have 18 more years of that to look forward to.

Faithy is a beautiful little girl. She is getting so big, but is starting to have to hold her own against her brothers. She sometimes has the audacity to sit on the floor in the middle of a catch or kickball game, or in front of the pitch back screen. Her bothers, who love her so much the rest of the time, don't seem the slightest bit concerned for her safety as the balls go whizzing by her little head, or she get's knocked over during a touchdown run. Things here are getting a little rough...Faithy needs to learn to walk just to survive.

We are really looking forward to visitors over the next few months and Grandma Cori moving to Idaho (she bought a house, literally, right down the street) as well as birthdays for Faith and Jake. Also, Jake just got his own email address, so if you get an email from him, it is really from him and he's tickled to death whenever anyone replies.

It's getting onto springtime. I just bought my fishing license for the year and am looking forward to the sun. Hope to see most of you soon.