Camping Out (in the guestroom)

The Great American Camp Out was scheduled for tonight. There was supposed to be this big event at the barn with lots of families camping together-S'mores, storytelling, stargazing, BBQ, the whole shebang. But due to several bear sightings in our neighborhood the event was canceled. So we decided to camp out in our backyard anyway. There's bears all over Yosemite and Yellowstone, right? But, since Jake didn't want to nap (a requirement for the camping thing) he decided to "camp out" on our guest bed instead. Yep, we're really roughing it here in Suburbia!

Brian and Jake are sleeping there tonight, then because Tanner was so bummed that he didn't get to do it, he and I will be camping in it tomorrow night. There will be donuts for breakfast (a necessity for any camping experience- whether it be on a queen size temperpedic bed or on hard rocky ground). When the boys look back on their childhood it will probably be the the little things they will remember anyway!

Post Note: Although Faith slept in her crib, and Tanner slept with me, they joined the crew for morning donuts in the tent.

June 2008

Faith has almost got her four top front teeth. Her lower middle one is still trying to poke through, but it looks like we can soon drop the nickname of "Ellie Mae" . One morning at the park last week Faith took a header onto the concrete blacktop. She cried a little, but not too much, so I didn't think anything of it. But you can see in the picture that she really took a good one. My little boxer.

Tanner is doing great on potty training. He calls his big boy underwear his "Boy Boys". He has also figured out how to get out of going to bed: as soon as songs are done and books are read, he tells us he has to go potty. New rule starting tonight: Potty needs to be done BEFORE heading upstairs to bed. We'll deal with the ACTUAL potty needs at bedtime when he is no longer wearing a pull-up to bed.

Jake is riding his two wheeler really well. I am so proud of him!!! He is scared to go on sidewalks, though. We have practiced in the street (with Brian jogging along side) and in the school parking lot/playground, but he is terrified of riding on the narrow sidewalk. So, until that fear is overcome we are unable to ride to the pool, the park, etc... In the meantime we will keep practicing.

Sheila, Wayne, and Shelby came to visit last weekend. It was so great to spend time with old friends! They had the luxury of staying at Grandma's place so they only had to deal with the chaos of our household for bits at a time. It was pretty cool having the "second home" to use! The boys both loved them. Tanner called Wayne "Hunky Wayne" instead of "Uncle Wayne"- to the amusement of all. We showed them around Boise (where they picked up many house flyers, amazed by the low prices), hung out at the pool, and BBQ'd, but the highlight ( in my opinion) was the multi-course dinner with cocktails and good conversation that DIDN'T include, "Sit down!". "Stop playing with your fork!" , or " Faith, you can't play with knives!". It was like old times, actually. A great reminder that even though friends may be far away, picking up where we left off still comes easily.

A few posts ago I wrote that in the event I don't get a teaching job for next year I will be a stay-at-home mom for the year. Yeah..... never mind. Nix that idea. Last week was my first full-time week on my own (the nanny had to go out of town for her grandmother's funeral so I canceled the job I was supposed to do). While it was fun waking up each morning and taking the kids to the park, playing in the backyard with water balloons, doing the usual stuff leisurely instead of cramming it into the weekend.... I just am NOT designed to do this full time. I have wrestled all week with whether this makes me a worse mother than my counterparts who are able to do it so naturally and gracefully. But maybe it is similar to any other career: some people make great lawyers, some make star basketball players.... some make great stay-at-home moms. I don't fit into any of the above categories, but I do know that I am pretty good at being a working mom. Maybe that's my niche. So, I think I will just cross my fingers, try not to beat myself up too much, and keep on scouring Craigslist and Boiseidahojobs.com- because I am not sure my sanity would survive staying home!

Goat Heads

No one is sleeping. At least not well. Faith wakes up before 6 every morning. Jake is up at 6:05, practically on the dot. Tanner follows soon after. And this is after each one has woken up in the night at least once. No one is sleeping. We are tired. The kids have dark circles under their eyes. I'm sure Brian and I have looked better. So, at 4:30 this afternoon, Brian and I decided that we just needed to get out. It was a good 3 hours until bedtime and everyone was cranky and the thought of playing referee to three exhausted kids seemed overwhelming. So we piled in the van to get some dinner.

On the way back from Taco Bell (OK.... where besides fast food are we going to take three whiny children? Not one of our finer parenting moments, but there you have it...) Jake announced from the far back seat, "Mom, we need to clean out the car. There's a bunch of goat heads back here!".

Brian and I looked at each other, not sure if we heard correctly in our exhausted state. So we turned down the music and clarified, "Jake, did you say GOAT HEADS?".

He confirmed. "Yeah... there's a lot of them. I think I must be bringing them home from camp each afternoon."

More confused glances. Brian tried for further clarification: "Actual goats? Like the HEADS of real goats???".

That got a giggle. "NO! Not REAL goats, Dad. The plant!".

Now it was my turn. I took a guess: "Did you learn in camp today about a plant called a 'goat head', Jake?"

Bingo. Now that it was established that there weren't actually bleeding decapitated mammals inhabiting the back seat with our son, we were curious to find out more. So Jake told us that he would show them to us when we got home.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, he bounded up front and opened his palm to reveal the mysterious plant... it was a FOX TAIL.

Brian and I cracked up, sure that he had just gotten the name wrong. Both names combine an animal and a body part-easy to get confused. Brian made some joke about another plant called the "Ratbutt". But Jake insisted they were really called Goat Heads.

So I got on the computer, googled it, and discovered that my five year old had taught us something new today. Our car is indeed filled with goat heads. Who knew?

Life With the Kids

Everyone is doing great, but growing up too fast!

Jake's in summer camp, can swim, and starts Kindergarten (for real this time!) in August , TJ knows his letters and numbers and colors and talks in complete sentences, Faith is walking and talking and beating up her big brothers. They are a crack up- all the time.

Faith's favorite thing to do in the world is go into the pantry and take down everything she can reach. Then she carries one or two things into the living room and practices climbing up and down the fireplace mantle with the items- over and over and over and over. Her current faves are the individual tea bags and the Ritz cracker tubes. Faith says so many words now, I couldn't possibly list them. Her favorites continue to be "MINE!" and "MORE!" She screeches whenever her brothers try to take something away from her, tries to stand up in her high chair constantly, and is obsessed with shoes. If Jake holds out his arms to her she runs into them and gives him a big hug- which I can't get enough of seeing and makes Jake so happy!

Tanner has a maniacal laugh and a deadly twinkle in his eye- he is sure to be some poor father's worst nightmare come dating age! He is also quite a looker (if I do say so myself!). It is impossible not to laugh when he purposefully misbehaves because he is so darn cute. He is enjoying having Vanessa (the nanny) here and is progressing on potty training- usually saving the potty full of #1 or #2 for me to actually SEE when I get home, which is always really special! Lately his favorite thing to do is clean. He takes a damp sponge and wipes off every surface he can find in the house. I don't know WHERE he got that gene from!The video is of him singing "The Crocodile Song" from swim lessons. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream. AHHHHHHH!"

Jake is learning to ride a two wheeler without training wheels and is being very brave. I was worried because he has never been the most adventurous/daredevil type of kid. I think he was 3 before he finally went down a slide himself! But he is enjoying practicing with his Daddy. He is a great big brother and even though he complains about Tanner all the time he obviously loves him to death and cracks up at his antics as much as Brian and I do. He says the funniest things. Last night it was really warm upstairs so I pointed the fan directly at his bed and told him that Tanner would have to sleep with him so he could also benefit from the cool air. Knowing how hard Tanner is to sleep with, he looked at me and said wearily, "OK, Mom. Here goes nothin'!" He is still such a cuddly boy and the other night when I commented how big he was getting he said, "Don't worry, Mom. I will still snuggle with you even when I'm 100." Well, thank goodness for that.

Brian and I just watch them and LAUGH.

We are really excited for our road trip. We leave August 1st and even though I know parts of it will be trying and there will be minutes and/or hours when we want to strangle each other, I can't wait!!!! Put on some music, pop in some movies, fill up that vat of Diet Coke, and let the fun begin.

Happy Summer to everyone :)

Fathers Day - 2008

I had an excellent Fathers Day again this year. I got my presents the night before (which I always love!); a great picture frame and card from Jake and a new iPod to replace my old one (five years old, three batteries, cracked case, scratched screen, no longer works unless it's plugged in - it led a good and fulfilling life...but you can watch movies on this one!).

Some details about the day in a minute, but first something Marisa said had me thinking all day about my life and what being a Father means to me. Normally, the kids wake us up in the morning, and most mornings, we all get up around the same time. Sometimes (rarely) Marisa stays in bed a little longer if I can convince her to. So yesterday, she was going to let me sleep in. She went into the boys room at about 5:15 am when Jake started to stir so she could get them back to sleep so I could sleep in. A little while after that, Faithy started to fuss in her room. I was already pretty much wide awake, so I got up and brought her downstairs.

We played a little bit and I fixed her some breakfast while I started the laundry. When the boys and Marisa came downstairs, I made waffles for breakfast while the new iPod played and folded the first load of clothes. Marisa explained that she was trying to let me sleep in and said, " I guess you really love your life if this is how you choose to spend your Fathers Day."...meaning the same way we spend almost every Sunday. That really got me thinking.

That is the way I would choose to start ANY morning if I could. Not on the golf course, not out on the river, not at a guys weekend in Vegas. But home, with my kids, first thing in the morning. Music on, kids playing and talking, trying to plan out a day when you can't even hear yourself think. I DO love my life, and it's all due to my wonderful wife and kids.

We went for an (unintentionally) long bike ride, stopped and had smoothies for lunch, napped and hit Chili's for dinner. I have been really watching what I have been eating and had been jonesing for an Awesome Blossom, and one of those new burgers, with the huge, thick bacon. Well dinner did not disappoint (that bacon may be one of the best things I have ever eaten...). Then home, movies and the NBA finals. What a great day!

On a side note, I have been trying to teach Jake to ride his two wheeler without training wheels. He is doing really good so far as you can see in the video below. I figured grass would be less scary. He just got a two wheeled scooter and has been doing great on his skateboard and in swim lessons. It won't be long until Fathers Day starts with, "See Ya Dad. Me and Tyler are skateboarding down to the pool, be back later...", with the sound of the slamming screen door echoing over my John Hiatt from the iPod......enjoy them while you can. Thanks for the great Fathers Day, Marisa, Jake, Tanner and Faith, I love you all and couldn't imagine (or would want) a life without all of you in it.

-Brian

You know it's time to start looking for a new job when

... your boss begins your "End-of-the-Year" meeting with, "I'm not going to fire you, but...."? Although I had already started looking for a new job, I am (as per the verbatim suggestion of my supervisor) "amping up my job search" here in Boise. Among other things I am, apparently, a "bully"- I know that many of you are probably laughing out loud right now trying to picture ME as a BULLY!!!

As most of you know, I have not been happy with the change in leadership this year. She and I don't see eye to eye on some pretty major issues. In the school this year we had one threat (by a 7th grader) to bring a gun to school, and in my class had one allegation of physical and verbal abuse and an instance (six months ongoing...) of "consensual" sexual activity between an 11 year old boy and an 8 year old girl in my class. I wasn't comfortable how any of the incidents were handled, but was told that "it is the difference between public school and private school". In any case, I am done with the craziness there. (Many of you remember my pathological liar student last year and the one in "equine therapy".). As much as I really enjoy many of my coworkers and think the educational program there has some real strengths, I can't continue to work for someone that I don't trust.

So far there are really no leads here on teaching jobs, but I hear that things often open up at the last minute so I am trying not to freak out. I am exploring all options- even those outside education. Being a stay-at-home mom is another option- although not one I think I would be particularly good at! But things happen for a reason and I am sure that reason will become apparent at some point down the line.

This will be a toughy....

As Marisa noted in her last post, my Grandma just passed away this last weekend. Grandma Daufel had a very full and rich life, and was in amazing health for almost all of it. I got to see her one more time before she passed away as did a lot of friends and family (we had to keep rotating out of the hospital room, there were so many of us). She finally passed on Saturday, surrounded by all her children and family that loved and cared about her. We should all be so lucky to live as long and as well and, when the time comes, to pass surrounded by love and compassion.

Regrets always accompany a loss like this. I should have seen her more, I should have made more of an effort. She sent me a card on every birthday and Christmas - this year included....I sent her photos when I thought of it. But I think these type of thoughts are par for the course when dealing with a loss, and I am trying to deal with it by looking forward and not back. By looking and examining my life in the face of losing someone I loved.

This is a song that I listen to when I feel my perspective getting out or whack, or when I get overwhelmed with my "to-do" list, or feel something is more important than it actually is, to pull myself back and get centered again. This is by John Corbett (yes the Northern Exposure actor guy...yes he put out an album...yes I know, I am probably the only one who knows that) and is a great song.

Good to Go - by John Corbett
Waitin' at a stoplight yesterday as a funeral procession made it's way through the gates
I watched it roll up a winding road through a field of green with white headstones all in a row
And it made me think about where I'm at on my not so straight 'n' narrow path
Of the generous and mostly undeserved blessings that I've had
...
Had an All American mom and dad,
some of the coolest friends you could ever have
Found love I thought I'd never find.
I can't believe this life is mine
And I'm not planing on leaving yet,
but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
I'm good to go
...
I said a prayer for the dearly departed, and the loved ones left broken hearted and traffic started
And I drove away a little more able to see the good things on my table, for that I'm grateful
Cause I've had my troubles I've had my trials, I've hit the mark and I missed by miles
Had days when I'd been fightin' mad but the good times have more than outweighed the bad
...

Got to hold my new born baby girl,
and the hand of a man as he slipped from this world
I've laughed so hard I couldn't stop,
seen the sunrise from a mountain top
And I'm not planing on leaving yet, but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
...

And I've been thinkin' 'bout where I'm at on my not so straight 'n' narrow path
And I wouldn't wanna change nothing about this roll with the punches life I've had
...

Had an All American mom and dad some of the coolest friends that you could ever have
Found love I thought I'd never find. I can't believe this life is mine
And I'm not planing on leaving yet, but the truth is you just never know
And if this is as good as it gets, man I think I'm good to go
I'm good to go

So I'm going to take Grandma's passing and look at my own life. Look at what I have and have had, and be thankful, as I'm sure she was. I'm going to take stock, so that when my time comes, I'll be ready and grateful.

Love to all. I miss you Grandma, but thanks.
Brian

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).