Christmas 2009

After opening the traditional Christmas Eve Jammies, making a video for Papa, leaving milk/cookies/carrots out for Santa and his reindeer and cuddling together in our little family room to watch The Grinch we had a giant sleepover on Christmas Eve. Even Faith joined in the fun. The kids all bunked together in the boys' room- on our blow-up camping mattresses. Adults were exempt- until 6AM when our kids (what a shocker...) were the first ones to wake up. We kept the boys occupied with Sports Center in our bedroom for about 30 minutes and then they could wait no longer. We woke up Nana, and Auntie Lisa, Uncle John, Aunt Kim, Uncle Bill, and the rest of the cousins and headed downstairs for a "stocking free for all".

Jake got a new skateboard, Tanner got a remote control car, Faith got a Dora backpack and castle thingy with unicorns. Stockings were full of such things as receiver gloves (Jake), horse socks (guess who?), and a penguin t-shirt (Santa was lucky to find that one for Tanner). After the adults finally opened their socks, we paused for Brian to put together the aforementioned "castle thingy" (WAY more complicated than it looked on the box, BTW), the kids played with their Santa loot, and the rest of the adults made breakfast. There were pancakes and sausage, bacon by the pound, and scrambled eggs for all. The kids were getting impatient to get to Nana's house to unwrap the rest of the presents, so we headed there (still in our jammies). Tanner and Jake loved the Notre Dame hats, the Manning brothers football jerseys, and sunglasses (see picture). Faith loved her many, many, many (ad nauseum) stuffed animals, ponies, and books.

After a great day the kids were all exhausted and overwhelmed. Poor decision on our part, we let

the kids attempt another sleepover. Bad Idea. Faith fell apart BIG TIME and had a screaming fit when we removed her from the room due to her being unable to cope with the excitement (somersaults, bouncing on the bed, singing loudly.... none of these was conducive to sleep for any of her roommates). She proceeded to scream and scream and scream, then Tanner joined in. They ended up crying themselves out, then sleeping on our floor while Quincy, Jessa, and Jake ended up going to Nana's to sleep just so they could get some peace and quiet. It was past 10 by the time they all got to sleep so we were very happy when they all slept past 8 the next day. But, like Donkey says, "Christmas ain't Christmas 'til somebody cries!", so it was not unexpected that there was drama at the end of the day.

All in all a wonderful, family and love and friend filled holiday. As always, we feel truly blessed.

The Day After.......

Marisa is doing the Christmas post and I'm doing this one so the order will be messed up as she hasn't gotten to her's yet. I have a break in work, so I'm getting mine done now.

We had planned to go up to Bogus tubing with everyone on the day after Christmas, but after continuously checking the snowfall indicator up there on the internet (God love the internet!), it was obvious that they weren't going to get enough snow to open the hill. (As I type this I am watching the ATV's clear the walks in our neighborhood of the three inches we got last night, and just checked, Bogus got four + inches since closing yesterday and the tubing hill is open today). So we went online and found a new tubing hill that just opened up in Garden Valley this year.

We had seen some local cable commercials for this new hill and decided to take everyone up to check it out for the first time. It was a great time for everyone, albeit with a little drama. As it turns out, the tubing area is a marketing draw for the cabin/condo community they're trying to build up there. They make the snow and there are six runs of differing degrees of craziness with a snack shack and a yurt with a fireplace in the middle of this sub-division. There were only two of the cabins finished, but it looked like it would be a cool place if they ever get it built.

The kids all had a really good time going down runs 1&2 which were slower and didn't have any big jumps. I rode with Tanner in a double tube and he had a GREAT time in run 1, but got a little scared in run 2 so we headed to the yurt for some fire time. Jake had a loose tooth when we went up and smacked his face on his tube, knocking the tooth out, so he got a little yurt time in as well. Someone went down the run the wrong way, ate it pretty bad and ended up having to be airlifted out, so most of the runs were closed while they tended to him.

Once the runs opened back up, I announced that I was going up to try run 6. This really concerned Tanner and Jake. They both said that I was going to hurt myself and reminded me that I broke my arm last year. I explained that there was no way I was going to leave without trying #6 and if I broke my arm again, I broke my arm. It was really no big deal last year and wouldn't be again this year. You would have thought I was literally headed off to war they way they were carrying on as I headed up the tow lift. #6 was awesome (no broken bones or injuries of any sort) with a couple of big jumps where you got some serious air towards the bottom. John and I rode that one down a couple of times and then we were done.

We went into Garden Valley for lunch and then drove back to Boise, where all of the kids in our car promptly fell asleep and slept for most of the hour or so drive back to the house. All in all a great outing and one that we will do again. It's about as long a drive as it is up to Bogus.

Anyway, photo and video attached. Way better than being out shopping on the day after!

More Holiday Fun

• Tanner had his holiday program last week. They sang, played instruments, dressed in their finest (this was difficult to find in Tanner's wardrobe of football jerseys and sweatpants....) and wore Santa hats. Too cute. I was afraid that he wouldn't go up to perform, but he did great and was so proud of himself. My favorite was when they sang "Shalom" and the kids all put their arms around each other and swayed to the music. I have to admit, I got a little teary.

• Brian was putting Faith to bed the other night and she called him in because she wanted a kiss. He leaned down to kiss her and she smacked him on the lips and said, "Now we married, Daddy!" (OK.... so this story isn't holiday themed, but it was so cute I wanted to remember it so had to post it here before I forget)

• Jake had a sleepover with his friend Sean. They watched "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid. I love that my son already appreciates the joy of a good sports movie....

• Tanner had his first sleepover at Nana's house. He was so excited! He had been asking about it for weeks, so we decided to plan it for the night that Sean was sleeping over. He packed up his backpack with all his "guys" (3 monkeys, 3 penguinos), jammies, his blankie, etc... and was ready hours before Nana arrived. He kept putting on his backpack (which is nearly as big as he is) and walking around the front room with it asking when Nana would arrive. I guess they had a great time together- it is so special to me that Mom gets this one-on-one time with my kids. They all adore her and I think it will be tough on them when she goes back to Tahoe in April/May.

• Faith was no so happy about Tanner's sleepover. She kept crying for her "bruddah" and even woke up in the night asking for him (even though she has never called out for him before). When I put her to bed she was crying and said, "Tanna is NEVER coming home!" Poor thing. She can't wait to be next, though, for her chance at a sleepover in January.

• Brian and I had a great "date night". Several weeks ago we decided to get a babysitter and we used the 3 hours to get everything ready for Christmas. We packed up all of the presents, wrapping supplies, ipod, etc.... and took it to my mom's house. We made a bunch of snacks, turned on holiday music, and got everything wrapped and organized. This has definitely been the "no stress" holiday.

• I baked up a storm last Sunday. Mom and I planned to bake together but what really happened was I got several hours to bake while Mom entertained Tanner and Faith and Brian and Jake watched football! I made two kinds of Chex Mix, thumbprint cookies, toffee bars, and mexican wedding cakes. Nothing like holiday baking to get you in the Christmas spirit.

• Kim, Bill, Abby, and Aidan arrived on Tuesday night. Lisa, John, Quincy, and Jessa arrived last night. The cousins are in heaven playing together and are all sleeping together in the boys' big bedroom. Even Faith joined the sleepover last night on an air mattress on the floor.

Holiday Fever

Our annual Holiday Party at the Barn was yesterday. Tanner and Faith told me several days ago, in no uncertain terms, that they would STAND by Santa this year but would NOT SIT ON HIS LAP. It was like a deal had to be negotiated, but given their hysteria last year, I figured this was as good as it was likely to get. And, true to their word, when our turn came they walked up to him- no tears this year- and stood by him. However, once I walked Faith up there, she refused to let me leave her alone- even with her brothers. So, I was unable to extricate myself from the picture. When Santa asked them to tell him what they each wanted for Christmas, Jake told him "a guitar", Tanner said, " a coloring book" and Faith shook her head, looked down, and refused to answer. Even after he gave her a candy cane, she didn't warm to him. Still, she loved the present he gave her (a Dora puzzle) and we quickly left the party to come home and work on it together.

The excitement of the season is heightened by the weather- snow the last 3 days! We bundled up today and took the kids out for a sledding trip behind the Merc. The boys of course both loved it, and Faith was really into it this year, too. I started out having Tanner or Jake stand at the bottom of the hill to "catch" her in case she was going too fast, but she quickly decided she wanted to go further and go off the "jump" (really just a curb) at the end. Both the boys tried their hand at standing on the sled and trying to snowboard down the hill- both crashed, got up laughing, and had to have snow picked out of their eyelashes!

In addition to the morning ritual of the advent calendar, we are doing The Elf on the Shelf this year. It's a stuffed elf that comes with a cute story about an elf that stays at your house throughout the holiday season and watches if you're behaving, then flies back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa. The next morning he returns (prior to the kids waking) and hides somewhere in the house. Tanner and Faith are really into it- and even though Jake knows he doesn't really fly there each night and that we actually hide him he has liked waking up to see where he will turn up next. So far he has been on a ceiling fan, in a stocking, on the coffee maker, and even in the refrigerator. For several days he didn't fly anywhere (whoops!) and luckily the little ones were very satisfied with our explanation that it had been too snowy/cold for him to get to the North Pole those nights. I will be so sad the day my kids stop "believing".
Now that work has slowed down I am enjoying the season so much and can't wait for family to arrive to help us celebrate!

The Alan Family Christmas

Christmas Vacation is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. I empathize with Clark, always wanting to do the right thing, always trying hard, having the best of intentions, and then having everything generally go to sh*# right in front of your eyes. So I am always laughing when we have a "Griswoldian moment" around the holidays (to be fair, my lovely wife causes about 50% of these, so it's not all me).

So it was with great expectations for humor that we bundled up in the snow on Sunday and went out and found the "Alan Family Christmas Tree". Normally we end up driving around town (against my Bah-Humbug wishes) while we visit every carol-singer infested, mulled cider having, little mom and pop Christmas tree lot in town trying to find a tree. To my greater and greater level of frustration, we are usually unable to find the "perfect tree". This continues for a couple of hours or until we pass the first Home Depot, where (for the last 10 years) I pull in and find a perfect tree in about 10 minutes and bring it home. This year we made a deal, wifey could go out in advance and find one little tree lot that had a lot of "perfect trees" and we would hit that one lot. If they didn't have a tree that we liked, it was immediately off to Home Depot.

So the lot she found was literally down at the bottom of our hill, it was out of some guys garage and they had a nice fire going and plenty of great trees. So we got our tree there (no trip to Home Depot....awwww). Now, Marisa wanted a nice big tree, and I just wanted to get home, so we picked out a good one that in true Griswold fashion was about a foot too tall for our house. So after I cut off a big chunk of tree and a bunch of branches, we were good to go.

So our tree is up and decorated. It was Jake's year to put the angel up and it won't be long until he's big enough to do it without my help (again....awwwww). We had our traditional tree-setting-up dinner of pigs in a blanket, potato skins and salami and cheese. We listened to Christmas songs, the elves danced a little (as you can see). And the Christmas Spirit is alive and well at the Alan household. Now, somebody please show up in Cousin Eddies' RV for Christmas and I can die a happy man.......

Who was that masked man?

Words of warning for all of those coming to visit for Christmas.....IT'S COLD HERE!

Temps have dropped to below zero at night and are a warm and tropical 2 degrees when Tanner and I have been walking Jake to school in the mornings. So bring warm clothes if you plan on going outside.

We have had a little bit of snow that Tanner and I shoveled (he loves to shovel snow), but not a whole lot to speak of. There is snow in the forecast for both days this weekend, so we'll have to see how much shows up. But for now it's clear, beautiful and cold.

Tanners pre-school is right next to the house, so I can watch him out the window at recess. Tuesday he was going around the playground, picking up handfuls of snow, throwing it up in the air and walking under it so it came down on his head. Later when I asked him why he was doing it, he said he didn't know, and when I asked him if any of his friends were doing it he said, "no, just me". My middle boy truly dances to music that only he can hear.

So we're looking forward to seeing everyone, but be on the look-out for a masked bandit out dancing in the snow.

Y-Basketball 2009

With all of the illness this year, today was the 1st game that Marisa has been too, so these are the 1st photos we've gotten to post. Every Saturday someone has been too sick to come, so it has been just me and Jake.

Y-Ball has been great again. I had to take a bunch of extra kids from the neighborhood who were placed on another schools team, so we have a very large (12 boys) squad. The boys named us the "Green Slime" for the lovely shade of green jerseys that we got. But with that many kids, coaching has been a little bit of a challenge to make sure that the playing time is sort of equal, so I have an assistant coach who keeps them lined up in order on the bench and the ref's pause the game to let us sub in mid-quarter as well as at the end of the quarter so everyone gets to play. It's still a "no score" no stat" league, so it's just about learning and getting the skills down. Speaking of which.....

Jake is even better this year. He has a nose for the ball, has the moves and scores a couple of shots each game. This year he has focused on his defense to be more like Lebron James (I swear to God he watches more sports on TV than I do). If you don't watch a lot of NBA, Lebrons' big focus other than scoring is on shot blocks, he generally gets two or three a game, and he chases his guy down and blocks the shot from behind on the run. Now Jake thinks this is the coolest thing ever and has been working on it all season. He has actually done it twice in games now which is amazing because he usually one of the shortest guys on the floor. He has more fun blocking shots than scoring I think.

We have had a couple of "Coach/Dad" conferences as, because he watches so much NBA, he has started to preen a little bit after shots or blocks. As Coach I could let those go, but as Dad I just can't, so he's been pulled once or twice to make a point. I love coaching his teams, but it's probably good that I'm retiring after this season.

We had our pictures today, and have our last game and trophy party next week. It's a quick season, but LIttle League sign-ups are in January, it never stops around here....

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all - friends and family, near and far. The picture is last Thanksgiving at our house. We had a big Thanksgiving last year and ended it watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" together, getting a jump start on the Christmas season.

This year our Thanksgiving will be much smaller (just Cori and us) and our Christmas will be much bigger. But the kids, the boys especially, are much more into Thanksgiving this year (Jake mainly because he has figured out it means an extra day of football on TV....). But in the mode of "Kids say the Darndest Things", courtesy of Tanner's teachers at the little red pre-school, I present Tanner's concept on How to Cook a Turkey.

First You: Get the turkey from the forest.

Then you stuff it with: Chicken and Meatloaf

Then you: Put it in the oven

You need to cook the turkey at: 80 degrees

For: twelve days

Then You: Eat it.

Enjoy your turkey (however you choose to prepare it) and be thankful. I am most thankful for the things that you read about here on a regular basis. I am living an amazing life and enjoy each and every minute, yes....even when I am crabby.

Love to all,

Brian

Tanner Turns Four

I started the day by telling Tanner all about the day he was born: How we dropped Jake off at Auntie Sue's house and headed to the hospital. How the nurses and doctors were so late getting started with the surgery. How Papa and Nana were worried because we hadn't called with any news by 10:30 and came to the hospital to make sure we were all OK. How he was so comfy there inside my tummy that they had to use suction to get him out during the c-section and how he came out with a BIG bump on his head that his Papa was so concerned would never go away. How we brought him home on Thanksgiving Day and ate turkey and all the trimmings that his Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue had prepared and brought to us in tupperware. I told him about how he used to love our heated bathroom floors in our old house and how he and I would sit in there in the middle of the night and doze since the floors comforted him. That seems like yesterday.....
So..... how is it that that little baby boy has turned into a big four year old???

We started the morning with a few family presents and the iPod was a HUGE hit. He had said repeatedly that he wants one like Jake has so we found a used old school nano on Craigslist a while back (a little beat up and not functioning perfectly, but perfect for the needs of a 4 year old!) and got him that and some new headphones from us. He listened to it a lot yesterday, dancing and singing along, telling us excitedly what song was on next. His favorite of the day being "If You're Out There". Grandma Mary sent him some very cool football jammies- complete with football slippers- and Auntie Sue gave him a Matchbox Car ramp set that is currently being utilized in the front room by all three of the kids. He is excited about the ant farm from Nana and I know he will love watching the ants (just as soon as we send away for them....). Papa sent him money which he decided to spend part of on a t-shirt at the State Championship football game on Friday night.

He had a party at the Merc with three of his preschool friends. It was low-key but I think the boys had a great time playing tackle football in the bouncy house. He had picked out nerf-like footballs to give out as "party favors" and those were the hit entertainment. He had pizza with his friends, loved the hockey players on the cake, and opened his presents excitedly. My mom and I were amazed how mellow everyone was- generally I think that 4 four-year old boys are way rowdier than they were.... but I'm not complaining! It was easy, fun, and most importantly: exactly what Tanner had wanted.

Of course, it wouldn't be fitting (in the scheme of the last 6 weeks) if everything went off without a hitch. Faith started complaining that she "had a throat" midday and by evening was running a fever, crying, and saying that her throat hurt. Ok... so I guess she didn't escape the strep outbreak unscathed.

Turkey Trot 2009

This morning was the annual Turkey Trot for the Hidden Springs Elementary School. Even though the kids had no sleep, both Tanner and Jake were determined to run in the race. We couldn't get everyone up and moving for the pancake breakfast (which was fine because it was outside in a freak hailstorm), but were at the starting line on time and ready to race!

Tanner and the pre-schoolers got to go 1st. This was Tanner's first run, so I didn't know how well he would do. He had a little bit of a slower pace and he was very concerned about his gloves staying on and was messing with them the entire run, but he ran the whole 1/2 mile or so that they had laid out for the pre-schoolers. He crossed the finish line to a high-five from his big brother and then sat down on the curb to enjoy his Vitamin Water and fruit snacks.

This was Jake and my third mile run together. We did this one last year as well, so the distance was no problem. Jake decided he just wanted to take this one easy and ran most of the way (he was up until 11:00 last night and had a basketball game today....). But we ran with a lot of his school friends and had a good time. He crossed the finish line to a high-five from his little brother and then I sat on the curb with a Vitamin Water and some fruit snacks (see I was out until 11:00 and then slept with Jake and I had a basketball game today too....).

Good times......Good times.

State Finals

Last night was the Idaho Division 5A High School Football finals at BSU. Capital High (where the kids will go, and who we've gone to see before) v. Eagle High. The lower bowl of the stadium was packed and there were people tailgating in the dark before the game.

Like I said before, we know some of the parents and some of the kids on the team, so we wouldn't miss the finals game. It ended up that I had to cancel a basketball practice so we could go to the game, which was good, because a lot of other basketball families ended up going too.

It was an awesome game, worthy of the finals. Capital lost 22-21, Eagle faking the extra point and making the two point conversion. Last play of the game the Mustangs committed an unsportsman-like conduct penalty, so Capital got one final play with no time of the clock. The field goal kicker tried a 60 yard field goal attempt. It ws right down the middle, but just 5 or so yards short. It was so close!

The kids had a blast. We went out to Chili's before the game for Cori's birthday dinner. Jake's friend Tyler and his mom came too. We stayed for the whole game and ended up getting home around 11:00. We had a sleepover night (Jake with me, Faith with Marisa and Tanner in with Nana) and woke up this morning with some VERY tired kiddos. Tanner and Faith are upstairs right now for their second naps of the day, but it was worth it for that game!

Person of the Week

Tanner is person of the week at his preschool. He got to bring home Calvin, a stuffed bear that travels to the home of each student during his/her special week. Calvin does everything with Tanner and we take pictures then create a photo album page to showcase Calvin's visit to the Alan Household ( there are two photo albums with all of his prior adventures that accompany Calvin). I thought about bringing Calvin with us to urgent care and taking a picture with him and the Dr. but thought maybe that would gross the next family out. But, nonetheless, Calvin has been exposed to strep throat.

Seriously.

I am not kidding- after stomach flu and H1N1 resolved themselves last Monday we had three days of health (I unfortunately was out of town on a business trip so didn't get to enjoy it!) before I came down with strep on Thursday night. I was deathly ill on Friday (at least it felt like it) and dragged myself to the Dr. where they promptly gave me a big shot of penicillin. It hurt! But like I told the nurse, it did take my mind off the pain of swallowing. I recovered on Sunday, but as anticipated, Jake and Tanner came down with it Sunday evening and were put on Amoxicillin on Monday AM. The fun never stops in the Alan Family!

But, I digress..... Calvin has still managed to have a nice, if infected, visit. He has played baseball,

snowboarded on the Wii, participated in Movie Night with Ice Age 3, and played on our swing set. Tanner also had to make a poster about himself so with my help (a mom's job doesn't end just because she can't swallow without gripping an armchair tightly and bracing herself...) we created a poster to celebrate his "specialness". He shared it on Tuesday with his classmates and we were excited to come watch. We fully anticipated that he wouldn't say much or would rely on us, but he shocked the heck out of us by marching up to the front of the classroom, taking the teacher's pointer, and talking about each picture on the poster loud enough for us all to hear! We were very proud of him!

We are celebrating his b'day (his first real party!) on Saturday. We invited three friends from preschool and are going to the Merc for pizza and the hockey cake he picked out. We rented a bounce house from the local high school kid that started an Inflatables business here in Hidden Springs. Unfortunately I had to book this party amidst the chaos of three sicknesses and inadvertently booked it during Jake's basketball game, which Brian has to coach. So..... it will be Mom and I at the party with a "family party" later in the day. Oh, well. All things considered, I think we are lucky we got a party planned at all. Now if we can all just stay healthy to enjoy it! What's next....... bubonic plague????

Popart

Anyone that has been in our house knows that we have a ton of pictures covering our walls and every available hard surface- it's too many but we both just love pictures and can't figure out which ones to replace when new ones arrive. One day when we are old the children will come home to visit only to find us buried in an avalanche of mismatched frames filled with family photos.

So of course, it stands to reason that the art we chose most recently is based on photographs we had taken last Mother's Day. We used a website called photopopart.com and had them create this canvas for us. We are not quite sure where it is going to go yet but just looking at it makes me smile. Right now it is hanging on our bedroom wall, but it freaked us both out a little bit last night, going to bed and having the large faces of our children staring at us. Plus, when we hung it there, Tanner commented, "Now we can be with you ALL THE TIME!" - which is really not what we are going for...

Anyway, in a month filled with sickness and more than a little frustration, this art created a bright spot.

H1N1 and Halloween

We weren't sure until trick-or-treat time whether or not all three kids would be able to make the annual neighborhood candy trek. Tanner was still suffering effects of what we think was the flu (mostly exhibiting symptoms like crying for no reason and falling apart over the smallest things); Faith still had a 101 fever. Only Jake was spared (knock on wood). Yep, after battling a stomach virus for 2 weeks straight, or kids got H1N1 on Monday. Tanner was only down 2 days, but Faith is still sick this morning- probably because we let her trick or treat to her heart's content last night, even though she was clearly exhausted. But her enthusiasm for the candy hopping was evident and she galloped her way between most houses, only requiring the wagon toward the end of the hour. Everyone loved her "baby horsie" costume- although many people thought it was a "Bronco" costume to go with Jake's Broncos football player costume. (Yeah... like we have that much time or creativity to theme our costumes....).

The neighborhood was packed with friends and neighbors- although to my disappointment there were no houses handing out mulled wine or Oktoberfest beer to the adults this year. The kids got a ton of candy and loved dumping it all out to revel in the booty. They also got a huge kick out of answering the door for trick-or-treaters- although we ran out of candy very early due to Tanner's tendency to hand out fistfulls to each kid, instead of just one or two.

The Plague House

So our house is disgusting. We have been sick, ALL OF US, since pretty much the buddy walk post a few weeks ago.

Faith got it first from her daycare we think. She threw up TWO WEEKS AGO tomorrow, and was home for school the next two days. I got it after her and was out of commission for five days. Tanner was next and bounced back after only missing a day of school. Jake got it and rallied, then really got it and missed two days of school. The whole time Marisa didn't feel right, but never got sick. She was well enough to be making snide comments, "Well I guess you're not in such great shape after all, are you?" and, "How about those great vitamins of yours now?". Then she went out of town for ONE night on business.

She was fine, walked in the door when she got back home, was throwing up less than five hours later, and was down and out all day today. I don't know what to do. At this point, there is not a bathroom that hasn't been thrown up in (or worse), I have washed every set of bed sheets at least once. There have three vomit etc. (ugh!) specific loads of laundry and the carpet between the kids bedroom and the hall bath looks like a trauma scene. I Cloroxed every surface in the house today; doorknobs, light switches, counters, faucets, computers etc. But don't know what else to do at this point (other then lighting the carpet on fire...).

It's not H1N1 (although that's the OH SO FUNNY neighborhood joke), as it's just stomach issues, no fever, no cough, congestion etc. So I don't know what in the hell we have. Plus it's not like I'm takling anyone to the doctors office to find out what it is, and catch H1N1 there, we're just self medicating with TV and Gatorade. Now come to find out that our daycare providers daughter has been home with H1N1 for the last week, and to answer your question..... yes OF COURSE our kids were there this week.

We promise to either have the house cleaned/santized and germ free by the time everyone comes for Christmas, or we'll move into a new house before you arrive (after the board of health condems this one).

Pumpkin Patch

The fact that the last two weeks have been hell on wheels, could not deter us from getting to the Pumkin Patch come hell or high water today. Marisa was home sick (more on all that in the next post). So I decided to venture out with the kids to the Pumpkin Patch myself to get them there first and foremost, but to give her a little peace and quiet in the house as well.

We got up and out early this morning, trying to get to the County Health Districts' H1N1 vaccination clinic (you can't get the vacine privately here, it has to go thru the County Health District) and get the little kids their shots as they fall into the higher risk category and are allowed to get them now. Jake got his at school last week, just before they ran out and Marisa and I will have to wait awhile as we are not high risk, but Tanner and Faith are both under 4 and fit into the high risk category. Anyway, we got there an hour and a half before they opened, paperwork in hand, and didn't even bother to get out of the car. They had stated there were 1,250 doses available at each of the two clinic sites and there were already more than 1,250 people in line. We're going to have to plan better for the next clinic, sounds like me getting up at 4 am or so and camping out....In order to bribe the kids to get dressed and out the door that early on a Saturday we had to go to the Mickey D's Playland for breakfast. After that, home, grocery store, house sanitization duty for a couple of hours and off to farm country.

The Pumpkin Patch is forever and gone from our house, it takes an hour + to get there. It was fun, but Pumpkin Patches to me always make carnivals/the fair look glorious by comparison. I always feel like at least the carnies put this stuff together and run it on a regular basis. Who knows what Cooters', who's driving the cow tractor ride, real job is when it's not Halloween. Anyway, we went. The kids went thru the petting zoo, the boys got to play in the jumpy houses and Faithy got to take her pony ride. We got our pumpkin, nachos, corns dogs and sodas and headed back home for dinner and a movie.

Speaking of movies, we (the kids and us) watched Bedtime Stories recently. If you haven't seen it...very cute movie for the kids. It is an Adam Sandler movie, so there is fart humor of course, but our kids, being kids, find it as funny as Adam does, so no harm no foul. Over the course of staying home sick, Jake and I watched Rudy together which he loved as much as I do (I cry every damn time!) and the Princess Bride, which he also enjoyed. He is now a Notre Dame football fan, so I can pass that tradition down which is good. Hopefully we're all on the mend now and things can move healtfully onward, at least until we get the Swine Flu in the next couple of weeks.....

The Buddy Walk

Being a parent is hard. I mean, deciding what a reasonable expectation is, figuring out consequences for bad behavior, how to best teach things like honesty and respect and kindness. Brian and I are constantly asking ourselves, "Are we doing OK or will our kids all end up in years of therapy?". But there are a few things that we are really sure we are doing right. And there are moments that shine through the day-to-day worry that make it clear that this is true.

A year or two ago we started a "Pay it Back" system with Jake where for every outside activity he joined (YBall, Tball, Chess Club, etc..) he had to "pay it back" by doing something good for the community. Over the last few years he has helped clean up the riverbank, raised money for a cause by selling his old toys/books, made cookies for the local fire station, picked up trash in our community, etc...

Most recently he chose to do The Buddy Walk which benefits the Down Syndrome Association. When we first moved here, Jake was 3 1/2 and was in a summer camp with a boy, Anthony, that has Downs. He became friends with him and with this boy's grandfather (Pop Pop). It also turns out that Anthony is in his first grade class this year and Pop-Pop volunteers in there weekly, so this friendship continues.

So we signed the family up to walk in the Buddy Walk. It is a one mile walk through downtown Boise, starting at the Capitol Buliding and ending at Julia Davis Park with activities and food for everyone. It promotes awareness of Down Syndrome and also raises money for research. We bundled everyone up and joined the walkers yesterday morning. Jake, and I walked it, with Brian pulling the little kids in the big red wagon. We didn't know if Anthony and his family would be there or not, but they ended up right in front of us and were surprised, I think, that Jake had chosen to do this to support Anthony. The boys walked together, playing and talking about Halloween costumes, then hung out for a little while at the jumpy house at the end of the walk.

So, between this "pay it forward" thing and the fact that they can all sing along to music by artists from Abba to Led Zeppelin- we are at least doing something right as parents.

Friday Night Lights

In our never-ending search for cheap family activities, we went to the Capitol High School Homecoming Football Game last night. Capitol High is most likely the high school that the kids will go to given it's proximity to our nieghborhood, and is a football powerhouse right now. They are in first place and it was easy to see why, as they won 40-6 over Centennial High.

The thing that makes this an even cooler thing to do on a Friday night is that they play their home games under the lights at Bronco Stadium as the school doesn't have a lighted football field. This means we can see a game on the BSU turf for $10.00 as opposed to $100.00+. For the students, it means that the BSU coaches watch most of their home games (Coach Pete was there last night) and more than the schools fair share of football players end up playing for the Broncos.

We saw a few people we knew from the nieghborhood in the stands and we know a couple of the players from home as well, so it was a lot of fun and something that we will probably do another couple of times before the end of the season.

Go Eagles!

1st Grade, Preschool, and Daycare... Oh my!

Things are hectic around our house these days. Here's our typical schedule on preschool days:

6:30 Boys come in our room to wake us up
6:30-6:45 Boys watch Sports Center while Brian and I brush teeth and get dressed
6:45 Cartoons go on, Brian and I check our work email and get started with our work day
7:15 Cartoon is over, breakfast time. I play short order cook for awhile
7:30 Everyone gets dressed, plays (if we're lucky) until 8:30 -although this usually involves at least one fit from someone and at least a few sibling arguments to referee
8:30 Bundle everyone up, put little kids in wagon, walk Jake to school (he rides his skateboard)
9:00 Drop Tanner at preschool (next door to our house) and drive Faith to daycare
9:30 Back to work for a few hours
11:30 Pick up Tanner from preschool, drive him to Miss Wendy's
12:00 Back to work again
3:00 Walk to school, pick Jake up
3:45 Homework time! We work and prep dinner while helping Jake with his homework.
4:30 Pick up Tanner and Faith from daycare
5.00 Dinner, baths, playtime, clean up, etc...
7:00 Bedtime
7:30 Brian and I plop down in front of the TV, exhausted, and still having work to catch up on for the next day so we can do it all over again!

It sounds like I am complaining, but these days are actually a lot of fun. The challenge comes when one of us has to be out of the house early for a training or something and all the chaos falls to the other one. (Lately it has been me that has to be gone early. My work is crazy busy right now.)

I was reminded this evening, as I drove in the driveway with the little ones at 4:45 and Brian was out front for the third day in a row tossing the football to Jake,- just waiting to greet us at the car- that we are so lucky to be doing this together-I mean the "everyday" stuff of being a family. I forget that not all dads are lfortunate enough to have a job that allows them to be on the front lawn at 4:45 to play catch. And not all kids are lucky enough to have dads that are around for that on a daily basis. It may not be glamorous, but for a dual income family especially, it's a pretty good life.

Fall has arrived in full force here. The trees are turning red, the extra comforters are on the bed, and mornings require a hat of some sort and a coat. The hot tub is turned back up to 103 and is getting used more frequently, the shorts and tanks are put away, and my shelves are once again filled with sweaters and jeans. I love seasons!

The kids are all doing great.

Jake- Loves first grade, is good about doing his homework on his own, is excited to start YBasketball again this month, loves to skateboard, is more independent and able to go to the library and Merc on his own, and is GOING TO BED WITHOUT THE DRAMA.

Tanner- Loves preschool (and we love watching him out our window as he plays!), is pretending to read, wants to learn to downhill ski this winter, is excited for his 4th birthday (his first real party!), has a mean spiral, and is just as loving and affectionate as always.

Faith- Still plays with her horsies- making them eat grass, putting them to bed, and waking them up each morning so she can carry them around in an old purse, likes to color and use stickers, sings songs that she makes up herself, is fiercely independent, and looking more and more like the little girl she is and less and less like her nickname "Baby Girl".

Now, it's time to turn into a couch potato. "Fast Forward" starts in 15 minutes....

The Honeymoon is Over

Tanner and Faith appear to have gone from "cute loving old married couple that bicker occassionally" to full blown "How many ways can I annoy you in a 60 second time span?" mode.

Sample of the dialogue on the way home from daycare today:

Tanner: Mom, Faith's poking me!!!
Mom: Faith, stop poking your brother, he doesn't like it.
Tanner: Faith if you keep doing that mom is going to send you to your room when we get home and pull your hair! (What????)
Faith: MOM!!!! (crying) Tanner said that if I keep doing this (demonstrates by poking Tanner on the arm) you're going to send me to my room and pull my hair!!!
Tanner: She started it! She's TOUCHING ME!!! STOP TOUCHING ME BABY!
Faith: I can touch you if I want to. HMMPH!
Tanner: OK, then I can touch you (puts his arm on Faith's arm) just to annoy her)
Faith: Tanner STOP TOUCHING ME!!! Mom, Tanner's touching me. (crying now)
etc.....etc.....etc...etc....

Thank goodness the ride home is short.