Won't You Be Mine?

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

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

Studio 54

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


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


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

Step 2- Stucco/Paint

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

Step 19 - Stucco

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

FEB 2012 - Lots to Remember

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

A few highlights from the last few weeks:

Globetrotters

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

Faith's Dance "Recital"

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

TBall/Baseball Returns

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

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

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

Step 18 - Stucco Wrap

Stucco Lath Finished/Drywall Taping

Step 17 - Stucco/Drywall

Drywall Hung. Stucco lath going up.

Rear shot. Check out that roof line

Step 16 - Roof

Roof is complete. Drywall stocked, ready to hang tomorrow.

Step 15 - Exterior Carpentry

Fascia/Soffitts up. Apron Poured

Step 14 - Interior Work - Downstairs

Living Room out to Back Patio

Kitchen with Island Stub Outs

Master Bedroom out to Back Patio

Tanner Loses a Tooth

Look Ma, no tooth!

In the kids never-ending quest to make me feel old (of course they do it on purpose), Tanner lost his first tooth last night.


In a perfect example of the current state of their relationship, Jake actually knocked it out while they were getting ready for bed. The tooth had been really loose for awhile and ready to come out and they were horsing around in bed and Jake knocked Tanner in the mouth and out it came. It is interesting to see how they are getting used to the idea of each having their own rooms in the new house. They still like sharing a room now, but are starting to show signs of getting big enough to need their own space. Fights are becoming more common, as are their desires to be doing different things at the same time. It will be cool to see how their own rooms change their relationship and the way they interact.


As a bookend to this event, we were just watching some old home movies the other day of when Tanner was really little. He was still not talking in full sentences, still had the lispy kind of enunciation that toddlers have and was still in diapers. As the middle kid, he always just seems so much younger than Jake did at this age, which brings me back to my opening point. 


He's not so much younger that Jake was when he was six, I'm so much older than I was when Jake was six. Tanner is getting ready for sign-ups for his second year of baseball, he reads anything and everything and is just cruising through kindergarten and just yesterday it seems like he was getting rid of his "night-nights" (pacifiers). The time flies by. I am amazed and very proud of the little boy he is now. Love you bud, your OLD man.

Step 13 - Install Windows/Plumbing Rough In

Windows/Doors being installed. Rough in plumbing being done.

Step 12 - Roof Deck and Felt

Aside from Doors and Windows, we're pretty much weathered in, just before the 1st big snowstorm hits

Step 11 - Exterior Sheathing

Roof Trusses up, Exterior Sheathing on

Step 10 - Roof Trusses go Up

Continued Framing and Roof Trusses Up

Step 9 - Second Story Goes Up

The second story framing is started and the roofing work continues

Step 8 - Start the Roof Framing

Roof and Second Story Framing going up.

Step 7 - Framing Coming Along

Hey Look! A downstairs!

Step 6 - Begin Framing

The start of a Garage

Faith, Tanner, Jake - January 2012

I had to take a second to jot down some things I want to remember about the kids these days. Just this morning I was sitting on the couch with the three kids surrounding me and we were all looking through our blog book from 2008 and I was reading it aloud to them and we were all just cracking up at the stories and pictures. There is so much that I had completely forgotten. I was so glad to see it all in print and to be able to relive it with the kids now that they are a little older.

So....

At Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Faith. She is my creative, artistic soul. She has taken to making up complete songs and walks around the house singing them. They make sense and sometimes they rhyme. She has a decidedly country-music feel to her singing and inflection (Hmmm.... could be that's because that's what she hears her Mama sing all the time?).  Seriously, though, she is almost "soulful" in how she sings these songs! She still loves to color and draw- lately she has been into making rainbows and drawing us under them. She is such a smart little girl in so many ways. She is book smart- she loves to write and sound out words - but she also just "gets" things in a way that I think is remarkable. I am constantly looking at Brian pointedly with my eyebrows raised after she has said something particularly insightful. She really bonded with Papa this last trip. The highlight of her time with him was probably the day we went to Old Navy to return something. She and Papa played hide-and-seek in the store and "chase". No, not behavior I would normally condone in a store, but both she and her Papa were having so much fun, I just had to let them carry on! She began her dance lessons last week and LOVED it. She did ballet and tap and the videos I got are hilarious! It remains to be seen whether or not she will have any actual talent for dance. Right now she mostly just jumps around and makes lots of noise! She loves preschool. This month they are studying space and she is so excited that she gets to do homework (they have to draw a picture of the moon each week for the month to follow the stages). 

We have no idea why he's a Packers fan...

Tanner.  He is doing so well in Kindergarten. He, too, is such a smart, attentive little boy.  He has never had any behavior issue at school. He is a good listener (at least at school...).  He is reading words and sentences and likes to look over my shoulder at whatever book/magazine that I happen to be reading and find words he knows. He is very good at math and amazed his Papa with double digit addition (I had no idea he could do that so I was pretty amazed, too!). He loves school and loves his friends there. He plays football nonstop with his brother and the neighborhood kids. He has all the makings of an excellent wide receiver- however, he needs to put on some pounds. This boy is all skin and bones. A good word to describe his present body type is "scrawny".  All my kids are cuddlers, but he takes the cake. If I start my morning without immediately giving him a hug he finds me (usually by the coffee maker) and says, "Mommy, I don't think I gave you a hug yet today!" and then just grabs on. He often asks me to bend down and then he kisses my cheek and tells me how much he loves me.  Apparently he is quite the "ladies man" of the K class. We tease him about a little girl named Emma who has a crush on him. He gets all embarrassed and turns red. Too funny.  He is definitely in a bit of a "testing" rebellious phase. Listening and following directions at home is not his strong suit right now- Sometimes he is naughty just to be naughty and see what he can get away with. Normal kid behavior, I guess, but it is getting a little frustrating to both Brian and I! 

This poor soul has decided he's a Raiders fan like his Daddy...

Jake. What's up with my eldest these days? Well, he was invited to his first girl birthday party (where the entire class wasn't invited- just a few kids). It was him and one of his best friends, Braeden, and three girls from his class. He was so funny getting ready for it. He spiked up his hair the morning of the party and he used some of his own money to augment her gift (we only let the kids spend 10-15 dollars for party gifts and what he wanted was 25.00 so he used his allowance that he had saved to pay the difference!).  It will be interesting to see who he wants to invite to his bday party this year.  He has had a little trouble lately with some boys at school making fun of him for being small- which hurts me to see but I also think its a great learning situation for him because so many things have come easily to this kid. He wants to play football so badly and some of the bigger boys tell him he will never be more than a ball boy and things like that. He doesn't get too upset- we just remind him how to react and give him ammunition with all the smaller NFL players, NBA players, etc... If heart has anything to do with it, this kid will go far in sports!  He still likes school, even as it is getting more challenging. He tends to "freak out" a little over projects so Brian and I are working with him on taking things one step at a time. He has been starting (finally!) to read books for fun and not just for the minimum for school. Of course, they are all still sports books... but one hurdle at a time!