Raising Our 3 Sons

This is a blog about raising three boys in Northern Idaho, from the perspective of a Mom and a Dad, with occasional posts from the boys themselves.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

SUNSET MAGAZINE ON SANDPOINT IDAHO


Several years ago, Sunset Magazine named our little town the "Best Small Town in the West"... in this year's June issue, Sunset covers Northern Idaho's Lake Country in a 4-page travel feature on Coeur d'Alene, Pend Oreille and Priest Lakes (all local to us here).

So read Sunset’s latest accolades about our town and its big lake, and then plan your trip out here to see it all for yourself!

Memorial Day Weekend




It rained this Memorial Day Weekend - - a lot.

I usually despise the rain, but this wasn't so bad.

Here is a top 10 list of positive things that came from the rainy long weekend:

10. I didn't have to water my garden even once the whole weekend; and my plants all still got deep long drinks.
9. Stuck inside, we finally got around to painting the guest room (a beautiful bright green called "Moss Landing" - - So come and see it!)
8. We organized our entire DVD collection (matched loose DVDs with their cases).
7. We got together with friends for a rousing game of cards.
6. Landin's soccer game was cancelled due to rain, so we had 3 extra hours on a Saturday free to play together as a family.
5. The kids and I baked a "sand castle bundt cake" using the new fancy pan the kids got me for Mother's Day.
4. The dogs got a rain bath
3. Our cars were cleaned; and we didn't have to lift a finger
2. The kids rushed to our bed when the thunder and lightning crashed outside (great family snuggle time).
1. THE MOST INCREDIBLE RAINBOW I'VE EVER SEEN APPEARED OVER OUR BARN - - BREATHTAKING!

Splish Splash Mazlows Taking A Bath!




Mazlow is growing so fast that if you haven't seen him in a few months, you might not recognize him. He's taller, he's got a head full of blond hair, and a mouth full of big teeth.

If you knew Landin when he was around one-year old you will see the stark resemblance between him and Mazlow - - incredible really... same build, same blond curly locks, and of course, the same pretty blue eyes.

Mazlow LOVES water. It could be this stems from all the time I spent in our spa while I was pregnant with him (A LOT!) or from the fact that we took him in the spa from the time he was 2 weeks old on a daily basis. While our spa is still not hooked-up here (yet), the bath tub is one of his favorite places, especially when it contains his favorite toy - - a SOCCER BALL. He likes to put it in his mouth (holding the ball with his teeth like a puppy) and then shake his head from side-to-side like a bulldog, until the ball splashes into the water.

His other favorite trick in the bath is to fill one of the play cups with bath water and then hold it up to his face to pretend like he is going to drink it. Then I say, "Nooooo.... we don't drink bath water," which is Mazlow's cue to spit the water out and pour the water from the cup all over himself - after which he laughs hysterically (and then repeats the whole process again, over and over and over). He thinks he is so funny!

But the cutest thing about Mazlow in the bath has to be his cute little white rump! Shake your money maker Mazzy!!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

"Call Your Mother"


My Mom is a busy lady - although I know she always has time for me. She half-teases me that I never call her, and asks me how I would feel if my boys grew up and never called me. "That would suck" I tell her; yet I still don't call her as much as I should. Shame on me.

Today, I received a small package in the mail. It was from my Mom.

I opened the package to find a "love present" - - these are a tradition in my family - - little unexpected gifts to remind a loved one you are thinking of them.

My "love present" was a creamy ceramic vase in the shape of an old fashioned milk bottle. On the outside of the simple vase were three words in a stark black font:


call your mother

I filled the vase with some lovely pink flowers from our garden and sat it in the window sill in my office.

Thanks for the vase Mom... I promise to call more often!

Mommy's got a new toy!


When I turned 30 in October, Brice and I went down to the John Deere store to pick me out a riding lawn mower for my present. I know what you are thinking - "a lawn mower for a birthday gift!?!" But seriously, this thing purrs like a kitten, can cut the lawn on our entire 5-acres lickety-split, and it looks HOT (in one of my favorite color combos - Kelly Green and Bright Yellow)!

We went into the John Deere store back in October with every intention of purchasing a riding lawn mower and taking it home with us that day. However, we were totally overwhelmed by all the choices, and completely ill-informed. This would not do! So, being an ever diligent Internet researcher, I opted to look into all these choices further, and make a decision once we had all the info we needed to make an informed and educated selection.

So we did our homework, and then Winter came... The grass doesn't grow under the snow... So we had the luxury of a few more months to make up our mind.

Fast-forward to this May - - our property is over run with knee-tall grass and weeds - - it was high time to MOW! Brice wasn't about to go and mow it all with the push mower, so we were back to the John Deere decision. Only this time, we knew exactly what we wanted.

Yesterday, Brice picked up my new John Deere and brought it home. Today, I took out the Deere and rode around the 3 or so acres that make up the open space behind our house and voila the grass is mowed! IT'S AWESOME!!

I can't wait for all of you to visit this Spring or Summer - - I'll let you ride my Deere!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Thundercats game 5


This Saturday marked Landin's 5th game of the season and he scored 5-goals, maintaining his 5-goal a game average (with a running total of 25 goals thus far). His team won 15-1.

The kids played an amazing game, passing to one another, and setting each other up for goals - - an especially proud game for Thundercats coaches Brice and Eric. And to make it even more incredible, the kids played in a torrential downpour.

At the end of the game the Thundercats were soaked but happy!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Lost in the 50's - PARADE OF CARS










Tonight was the opening parade for Sandpoint's famous Lost in the 50's weekend. Even though it rained, we had a wonderful time watching the gorgeous restored 50's cars.

The kids favorite was a Bel Air that shot fire out of its exhaust (quite a crowd pleaser). Brice's favorite was (no surprise) a pink Cadillac in mint condition.

Tomorrow, the cars will be on display around town, so hopefully we will get a closer look!

The Grand Old Duke of York




This afternoon Landin's First Grade Class put on a special performance at school. The show was held in the gymnasium, and all the parents were invited to come. Also in attendance were the Kindergarten through 3rd-grade classes from the school.

The kids each performed a nursery rhyme solo that they picked out, and then the whole class participated in several group rhymes. Even Landin's teacher got involved, playing the old woman in the shoe.

For his nursery rhyme, Landin selected The Grand Old Duke Of York.

The kids were asked to work on their nursery rhyme at home, and prepare props to go with it.

Landin and I researched who the Duke of York was, and then wrote up a simple summary, which he read to the audience during his performance. We also printed out extra copies of the mini-history lesson along with the words to The Grand Old Duke Of York, wrapped them like scrolls, tied them with red ribbon, and Landin handed these out to all of the kids.

Landin's prop was a set of paper dolls he had made to represent the Duke of York's 10,000 men. When he started all you could see was the "Duke of York" (which was the front doll), but when he got to the part "he had 10,000 men," Landin opened up the paper dolls to revel a long line of men. Landin colored the paper dolls to look like Beefeaters with red coats and big black hats. It turned out really cute. He wore a costume too!

The cutest part of Landin's whole performance was when he introduced himself to the audience. He walked up to the microphone and said, "Hi, My name is Landin Dean Filippini, and I will be reciting The Grand Old Duke Of York." We were so proud!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Trip to The Farmers Market



Ryder, Mazlow, and I made a trip to the Farmers Market on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, hot, summer day, and the kids and I had a lovely time picking through the fresh fruit, veggies, and baked treats while enjoying the summer weather.

I pulled the kids around the market in their red wagon, and when it was too full with our farmer's bounty, Ryder got out to make room, and pulled the wagon. What a helper!

The Skate Park




Brice had a softball game on Monday, so we headed out to the park where the baseball field is, which also happens to be where the skatepark is located. When the kids heard we were going to the skatepark they donned their helmets and grabbed their boards - they were ready for some action!

Even Mazzy got the SKATE FEVER! He was watching all the boys skating and decided he just had to try it himself. He nabbed a board off the grass and started to climb up and push it around. The board was as tall as him, but he was determined to be just like his big brothers!

As you can see from the pictures, Mazzy is not quite walking yet, but he is getting really close!

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day 2006!






I had a wonderful Mother’s Day thanks to all the love and attention from Brice and the Boys. Brice let me sleep in to start the day off, followed by a hot breakfast of sausage, eggs, and fresh avocado, orange juice, and steaming hot coffee (YUMM!).

The boys had matching outfits to mine to wear to church, so we all got dressed up (totally coordinated) and headed off for a lovely service.

After church, we headed out to Coeur D’Alene where I was treated to an hour facial at the spa, while Brice played with the kids at the park. It was a beautiful sunny day, so after my spa treatment we all walked around the beach, played in the park, and explored the downtown area by foot.

We stopped for dinner at Tito Macaroni’s and I had a lovely Salmon dish, while the boys enjoyed designing their own pizzas (which the chef then wood fired for them).

We also stopped at a local nursery and picked out a blackberry bush and two varieties of blueberries for the garden.

I couldn’t have asked for a better Mother’s Day!

Thundercats Game 4


5 is apparently Landin's lucky number, as our little soccer baller scored 5 more goals in his game this Saturday. Go Thundercats - Still undefeated!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Friday Night Wine Tasting



We got a babysitter on Friday night and headed out wine tasting with a couple friends. It had been a long week for all of us, and it was just what the Dr. Ordered. It came together last minute (those spontaneous outings are often the most fun!). The kids were stoked to get to spend the evening with their friends and the babysitter at our house, and we were all excited to sample some of the "reserves" they were featuring on Friday at the Pend D'Oreille Winery downtown.

After wine tasting we were all starving, so we headed over to Ivano's for dinner. There were 8 of us (4 couples) and when we sat down at the table, the girls ended up at one end, and the boys at the other. We asked the waiter to do separate checks if possible, and he responded, "So am I supposed to guess which two go together?" A good question since we were sitting nowhere near our significant others. "Yes" we said. So he took a stab. He guessed Landy and Karen right off the bat (kinda cheating, 'cause I think he knew them or had seen them there together before). Then he looks at Nicole and me, and Eric (Nicole's husband) and Brice, and says, "The two of you are a couple" (pointing to Eric and Brice)! Ah, the things you deal with when your hubby is a hotty! We all had a good laugh.

After dinner we were walking back towards the car, and someone said, "it's only 10pm - what else is there to do?" We hadn't had any calls from the babysitter (something we should take advantage of!) So we meander into this nightclub down the street called Synergy. We get inside and the place is DEAD. Maybe 10 people, and an EMPTY dance floor. Usually an empty dance floor is an invitation for me to get my swerve on and get others to join me... but this place was just dead. We all sat down at a table near the bar, and just stared at each other. The waitress came to take our drink orders and we all kind of looked around at one another - - it seemed such a shame to go from drinking fine wines in a lovely ambiance to drinking crappy beer in a deadbeat club. Brice was the first to speak up. "I hate to say this out loud, but I think I'm too old for this place." From the mouth of babes (Brice being the youngest in the group)... we were out of there!

When we got home Mazlow was asleep in his crib, and the kids were all snuggled up in front of the TV with the babysitter. Ahhhhhhh.

And a good time was had by all!

Career Day At Landin's School


On Friday afternoon I gave a presentation to Landin's First Grade Class as a part of their Career Day.

PR is a hard career to grasp (especially for 1st graders) - - I mean, let's be honest - - most of my adult friends and family have no idea what I do... but I put a lot of thought into how I could make it real for the kids, and I think it was a success.

I ended up putting together a ficticious business made up of the kids in the classroom - a lemonade stand (Southside First Grade Lemonade), and we had an interactive "meeting" modeling the scenario of Southside First Grade Lemonade hiring me (the PR professional) to do PR for them. The kids came up with some really cool ideas to launch their business and hold fun events where the public could try their lemonade! They were very creative, and it was a lot of fun.

The best moment of the day though was after my session was over and it was time for the kids to clean-up. Landin ran over to me from across the room and wrapped his arms around my legs and looked up at me and said, "Thanks for coming to my class to talk about your job. That was so cool. I want to be a PR too, just like you."

Ah... What a nice start to the Mother's Day Weekend!

Our Little "Accident Going Somewhere To Happen"

When I was a kid and I brought home a friend that was clumsy or a bit reckless, my Dad would remark (to me later) - - "That kid's an accident waiting to happen!"

Well... That's Our Ryder!

The latest in his series of daredevil stunts went like this:

Brice says to Ryder, "I'll race you to the car!"

Ryder takes off running alongside Brice towards the backside of our minivan.

Brice eases off to let the little guy win (what a nice Daddy), and Ryder easily passes him to pull ahead.

Only feet from the car, Brice slows himself down so that he won't run full bore into the back of our car. Ryder doesn't.

Ryder drops his head (arguably to take the impact where he would feel it the least), and rams into the back of the car at full speed, shattering the taillight with his forehead.

Then he laughed.

"I won!"

Yah Ryder, you win.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Is there anything you can't find on the Internet????




When my mother-in-law moved several years ago she cleaned out her garage and passed down to me a vintage iron "Handi Hostess Waf-L-Ette" set. For the layperson Waf-L-Ettes (some crazy brand name from the 50's) are more commonly known as rosettes - (really just deep fried waffle-like cookie things).

My mom used to make these for me when I was a kid - and I remembered them to be quite a tasty treat (especially when dusted with powdered sugar and eaten nice and hot).

So I have this vintage set and a mad craving for rosettes - but alas - NO Recipes or directions on how to make the things!

No problem! I hop online after dinner, do a quick A9 search and viola! Instant recipes and rosette directions at my finger tips! I print out a recipe lickety-split, and next thing you know, the kids and I are making rosettes. FUN!!

Fried things covered in powdered sugar are good... just ask Mazzy!

Getting Our Vegetable Garden Ready


This weekend we spent some time working on the spot where we plan to put in a vegetable garden next month. The last few weeks we worked on marking the spot off, putting the fence poles in place, and tilling the soil. This weekend we raked out paths and built up sections where we will plant. Landin was a huge help - with rake in hand our little man was a handy mini-farmer (quite proud of his work too!)

On Sunday we had 12 yards of top soil delivered, so this week we will work on getting the weed guard down and putting the fencing up. And if we get that all done this weekend, we should be plenty ready to plant all the seedlings I've been working so hard on by the time June 1st rolls around.

It seems like SO much work for such a short growing season - - but we expect that the Fresh Fruit and Veggies will be well worth the effort!

TinkerBell & Captain Jack - - Fitting In



Well, it's been a week, and TinkerBell and Captain Jack are starting to fit in.

TinkerBell is still afraid of Potter, but both she and Jack enjoy sleeping on the kids bed at night and that seems to make everyone happy (especially Ryder who is overjoyed at the thought of his kitty staying by him all night long.)

Ryder is still a whirlwind with the cats, picking them up recklessly and running with them in his arms from room to room until they finally squirm free (only to be chased down by Ryder once again).

The cats favorite spot seems to be Mazlow's crib of all places - - Well,... at least SOMEONE is using it. (Just kidding - Mazlow sleeps in his crib more than any of our other kids did!)

Thundercats Game 3




Another game and another 5 goals for Landin! I think the blue hair makes him even more intimidating (as if that is necessary). Look at this look on his face - - such a Brice look!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Mousers (AKA - Cats)



We got two new cats today.

We have been seeing way too many mice lately. How many is too many you ask?? ONE! But we've seen way more than one. We decided it was time to get some mousers in the house. By the way, YES we have two big dogs, and NO they don't even try to catch the mice. UGH!

So we went down to the shelter to rescue a cat, and we were told the adult cats are Buy One Get One Free! (I swear).... so it's two cats for the price of one (we are such suckers) and next thing you know, we are out of there with two cats.

Ryder picked out a really pretty white and grey cat with beautiful blue eyes, who was aptly named "Blue Eyes". Ryder insisted her name was TinkerBell. So TinkerBell she is.

Landin wasn't there when we went to get the cats, but Ryder picked him out a gorgeous Black cat with white on its belly, face, and the tips of its paws. He has long, super soft hair, and get this - 6 TOES - on each foot. He's special! His name was Jack, and we decided that (given the Peter Pan theme we had already started with Tinkerbell) we would continue along and call him "Captain Jack", as in the 'Sparrow' variety of pirates, which are our favorite!

So TinkerBell and Captain Jack came home to live with us today, and the adventure continues!

Golf & Bowling on a Sunday Afternoon





On Sunday after church we headed out to the city with our friends Jason and Jennifer and their kids for a round of miniature golf and bowling.

Triple Play (The place I posted about with the water slides) has an outdoor 18-hole miniature golf course, and it stopped raining just long enough for us to stay dry while playing. We took our time, and let the kids actual golf every hole. With the exception of hole 16, which none of us golfed seriously as it was UNDER WATER (not on purpose). Brice and Jason attempted to hit their balls through the water, only to splash themselves (and us) and find that balls travel much slower through water.

Bowling was indoors, but was just as much fun! The kids had their own lane, and the adults had our own. Which was good for several reasons - the most important being that my score was not on the same screen as the kids, so there was no one to point out that the kids all scored higher than I did! I stink at bowling... It makes it even worse that Brice is REALLY good. But hey, I looked cuter in the fluorescent pink and yellow bowling shoes (actually I didn't... He did). Oh well.

Triple Play rocks! Did I mention they have a snack bar that sells Nachos for 2$ that are giant-sized with tons of cheap melty cheese (like the kind you can buy at Costco)? Anyone who knows Brice knows his affinity for cheap Nachos... so he was in heaven.

Note to self: Even with sticky Nacho fingers Brice doubled Melissa's bowling score. Look into odds that liquid-imitation-cheese-covered fingers are actually an advantage in bowling.

Next time we go to Triple Play I plan to try out the Lazer Tag... oh yeah, and go swimming in the wave pool.

Come visit us, and we'll take you there!

Monday, May 01, 2006

The Thundercats 2nd Soccer Game





Landin's Thundercats Soccer team romped the competition again this week... winning 9-0. Landin scored 6 goals. The first two found him running away from the goal with his arms up in celebration (see picture here)... but then he got a "talking to" about sportsmanship and showboating and he was much more refrained after he scored the others.

He really enjoys playing, and absolutely loves his team.

Earlier in the week, we had the whole team over to iron on names and Thundercat logos onto the kids jerseys/t-shirts. It was a lot of fun. We set up a soccer goal in the backyard and the kids played soccer while the Moms worked on the shirts. Then we all enjoyed an elaborate Nacho bar for dinner. A good time was had by all, and the kids shirts turned out great.

After the game on Saturday Landin and one of his other soccer buddies went on a walk down to the lake behind our house. It was such a lovely day they decided to go swimming... in their soccer clothes.... we'll see how the lake water does with the carefully ironed-on patches (should be fine, but you never know).

Ah, to be a kid in Northern Idaho!