Raising Our 3 Sons

Landin's 9th Bday Video

2008-01-03T14:06:00.001-08:00

Check out this video of Landin's 9th birthday party!

Back in time for Christmas

2007-12-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.... I haven't posted since August. Sorry. My New Year's Resolution is to get back to posting on a regular basis. I've heard from so many of you that you worry when you don't see updates from me, and miss knowing what is going on with those Filippini boys.

Okay, okay. I'm back. And right in time for some Christmas pictures. But first, let me catch you all up...

In late August -

We went camping with our closest friends at a cool campsite in New Denver, Canada. We camped right near the water and did some amazing hikes and bike rides. It was a wonderful time and will become an annual tradition for our 3 families (The Rust's, The Hauck's & The Filippini's).

The Rust and Filippini FamiliesAll the kids from our group climbed these stairs at the peak of this forever long hike we took. They look like a United Colors of Benetton Ad I think. It was a nice get-away for the girls...and was Beckham's very first camping trip. He was an angel.

The day after returning from camping the kids headed back to school.

Which brings us to September -

The kids started school again at Southside Elementary; Landin in 3rd grade, and Ryder in Kindergarten.

Ryder with his teacher Mrs. Valle

Landin with his teacher Mrs. Wanous

On September 27th, Beckham turned 6-months old

October brought my birthday and Landin's to celebrate:

Brice and I went to dinner alone to celebrate my birthday. The day did start, however, with breakfast in bed from Brice and the kids.

Landin had a joint party with his buddy Mitch (they share the same birth date) and another party with all of his soccer buddies.

The party Landin shared with Mitchell was a Hollywood themed party where all his schoolmates dressed up and walked the red carpet to dance and party with the birthday boys. It was a rocking good time best illustrated by the way the night ended - - with the boys stripping off their suit jackets and button-up shirts to reveal their "wife beater" white tanks, which the party guests then signed with a sharpie. Now if that's not partying, I don't know what is. Hey - "Ain't no party like a Filippini party!"

The soccer party had a soccer theme with lots of fun outside.

The end of October brought Halloween where Brice masqueraded as Dog the Bounty Hunter, I went as Batgirl, Landin as King Arthur,

Ryder as Superman (Ryman),

Mazlow as Sir Lancelot (Sir Mazalot),

and Beckham as Chewbacca (or Chewbeckham). In October Landin was still playing soccer for the Strikers, but also joined his first football team. He had a great football season, with several touchdowns and some great defensive plays.

With soccer and football every Saturday, Ryder and Mazlow learned to entertain themselves at the field, playing with leaves!

Landin finished soccer the first week in November, and ended the season as the team's leading scorer. Brice was proud of how he played and thought he progressed a lot during the season.

Here is Brice and the other U10 boys coach with their boys:

In November our family took a trip down to California to see Brice's grandmother, the kids great grandma, MIMI!
While we were there we also caught up with other family members including Brice's sister Calli and her husband Jason (who we met-up with at Chuck E. Cheeses)
One of the highlights of the trip for me was that we got to visit my dear friend Emily and meet her new family. Landin and Sam spent a whole lot of time together when we lived in Elk Grove but hadn't seen one another in years. It was fabulous to get them together again. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 2 years to get together again. All the kids played outside together (Emily's and ours) and had a ton of fun!I had to be in San Francisco part of the trip for some work engagements, so the kids and Brice tagged along and stayed with me at the hotels. At our hotel in Mountain View California the hotel staff was so taken with the boys that they named them "Brothers of the week" and featured them on a sign in the lobby. The sign said how well behaved and cute they were:
When we came home from our November trip (just in time for Thanksgiving) we got our first taste of snow here. The boys have really enjoyed it, carving it up in the backyard.

Which brings us nearly up to date... I'll post some Christmas pictures soon!

Go Strikers!

2007-08-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Landin played in his first competitive soccer tournament this weekend for his new team - the Sandpoint Strikers! Landin has played in rec league soccer for so long, it was pretty exciting to finally see him play in a more competitive environment (to match his insistent competitive drive that just didn't fit well in the rec league).

He is playing on the under-10 boys Strikers team and Brice is coaching his team.

The boys fared well in their first ever tournament, making it all the way to the Semi-Finals before losing to Cour D' Alene's club team.

Landin scored 5 goals in the tournament, averaging 1.25 goals per game. He has a lot to learn, but it was a great start, and he really did have a great time.

Go Strikers!!

Hershey's Track Meet

2007-07-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

Landin competed this summer in the Idaho Hershey's Track Meet. He ran the 400 meter dash, did the softball throw, and ran in a 4x100 relay.

At the regional meet Landin placed first in all 3 events, earning him a place at the state meet.

At the state meet he placed 3rd in the softball throw, second in the 400-meter dash, and his relay team placed second.

He had a lot of fun, and it was a neat experience for me to work with him on the track. He enjoyed it enough that I think he will want to do more track and field events when the opportunity permits.

Landin's Last SSA Season Ends

2007-07-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

June also marked the end of Landin's soccer career with the Sandpoint Soccer Association recreational soccer league. From here on out, he'll be playing in the competitive league for the Sandpoint Strikers!

Landin's team played up two age groups this season, so they played some teams that were able to beat them... but the learned a whole lot, and Landin had his skills challenged (a good thing!).

He still scored at least one goal every game this season, and he matured quite a bit in terms of his sportsmanship and understanding of the game.

After the last game, the kids dumped a jug of ice water on his head!

The end of the season party was at the beach in town. We organized a parents vs. kids soccer game, which was a blast. The dad's took on the boys with such enthusiasm. Here is co-coach Eric Rust celebrating after scoring on the 8-year olds ;-)

Here is Brice "bringing-it" against Landin...

Good bye SSA - - Hello Strikers!

HEY CUPCAKE!

2007-07-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ryder's Soccer Team - The Cupcakes - finished off their season in style with an undefeated romp through the playoff tournament.

To celebrate their success and the fun of the season, the whole team met at the new local bakery - Hey Cupcake! - in downtown Sandpoint for trophies and treats.

Ryder had be spike his hair in a Mohawk for the final games. It seemed to make a difference as he was actually RUNNING towards the ball.

Ry says he wants to play again next year, but not if he has to play for a team named after a dessert and wear a pink shirt (oh wait, that was Brice talking).

Ry liked playing goalie the best, and with the expected height he is supposed to grow to he could be fiercely dangerous in the goal. Only time will tell.

Baseball is long over

2007-07-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Baseball ended in June, but I never got around to posting the pictures.

Landin played for the Giants, and had a great season. His team was undefeated, and they had a lot of fun.

Towards the end of the season, we had a few nice storms, and the kids ended up playing in the pouring rain a couple of times.

The end of the year party was at a local pizza place, and I made a cake and some baseball cupcakes to celebrate.

It was tough for us to get too into baseball this season because it ran at the exact same time as soccer - - and well... you know where our family loyalty lies when it comes to sports. This may be Landin's last year playing little league if the seasons overlap each year... its just too much to take on! At any rate, we are very proud of our little baseball ALL-STAR!

Oh, and one last bragging point on Landin's baseball season (as if I can take any credit for any of Landin's athleticism) - - In the last game of the year Landin had a triple play while playing second base! It was freakin' awesome!!

Einstein

2007-07-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's with a heavy heart that I resume posts to this blog, after several weeks of letting the daily busyness of life get in the way of my updates.

On the 4th of July our white lab, Einstein passed away. He was Ryder's best friend. It's been tough on the whole family, especially our Anatolian Shepperd Potter who was Einstein's ever-present side kick. Einstein was our family's first dog - and our first real pet. I was not prepared for the sadness I feel after loosing him so abruptly. I cry openly, even as I type this post.

Harder still was having to wait until morning to share the sad news with our boys. I laid in bed all night awake, going over and over in my head how I would tell Ryder and Landin. I wrote Ryder a letter, which I will put away with his baby book, sharing my feelings, and describing to him (to read as an adult) just how hard it was to tell him the news.

We had gone into town early in the morning on the 4th for a parade and stayed in town late into the evening, swimming at the lake and barbecuing lunch and dinner. At 10pm the fireworks started, and it took us nearly an hour to get home with all the traffic afterwards. When we pulled into the driveway just before midnight, my sister (who had stayed at the house with her kids) met us at the door with the news that Einstein had been hit by a car that night. The Sheriff had come to the house to tell her just an hour earlier. When she saw the sheriff pull up the long dirt driveway that leads to our house she was startled. When he said to her, "There's been an accident." She was terrified it was us the sheriff was there to report about.

When Brice heard the news he cried out. A guttural cry. Einstein was so special to him. When we got Einstein he was just a pup. Landin was afraid of dogs, so Brice set out to find the perfect dog for our family that would help Landin over his fear, and would protect the kids as they played out in the woods behind our house. Einstein was that and so much more.

Brice and I went to pick-up Einstein from the side of the road after we got home, and had put the sleeping kids in bed. Brice was too upset to do anything. He sat in the car while I wrapped Einstein in a blanket. The Sheriff pulled up just as I was ready to lift Einstein (who weighed more than 100 pounds alive) into the car. He lent a hand, and together we moved him. From the looks of his wounds he had been hit from the side and tossed. The cut on his side had been licked clean as had his head and mouth - - his faithful friend Potter must have been with him until the sheriff came to escort him home. Last summer Einstein got an eye infection, and Potter would spend the day licking his eye for him until it was better. That's the kind of friends they were.

Wrapped in a large comforter, we placed Einstein in our barn until morning. Brice and I sat with him for a bit that night, petting his head, thanking him for the protector and playmate he was. In the morning we waited in bed until the kids woke-up. When we told them what had happened Landin wept openly. Ryder pulled the covers over his head and sobbed quietly. We held one another and talked about some of our favorite memories of Einstein. How he used to let Ryder tie him up to all the trees on our property, how he let the kids try to ride him like a horse, how they never could get him to chase a ball - he'd rather lick their faces and shake hands then chase a stick. How he'd step in front of any strangers or other animals that approached the kids, and would run or walk along side them as we ventured out.

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year. It was over 100 degrees. Brice and the boys and I picked out a spot on our property and spent the morning digging a giant hole in the hot sun. Ryder and I made a cross and Landin drew a picture of our family to bury with him. When the hole was ready we moved Einstein, still wrapped in the blanket ,and placed him inside. The kids said their good byes and we talked about what we were thankful for during the time we had with Einstein. Together we filled the hole, and then covered the top with stones we found while digging.

Over the course of the day there were moments where the sadness just welled up inside, sometimes followed by tears, other times by a sigh or a squeeze of someone's hand, or a hug. We took a trip to town in the early evening and as we pulled back into our driveway, and Einstein didn't come running to meet the car there was a dead silence in the car, and I looked to Brice, who had tears that matched mine, and knew we were both feeling the emptiness Einstein had left behind. Ryder asked me, "Is this a dream?" No sweetheart, this is real life. In real life, family pets die, and families move on. We will get another dog, it wouldn't be fair to Potter, who has lost his best friend too, if we didn't.

Last night Ryder came to me and asked if I would print him out some pictures of Einstein that he could hang in his room. I obliged. Looking at those pictures was difficult. Einstein was such a beautiful dog. But it made Ryder feel better to look at them, and to talk about the memories he had from when the photos were taken.

My apologies for the downer blog post. I know people don't come to read this blog to be depressed. But this is my now. I have more updates from the past 6-weeks that I will get up shortly, but for now, I've got Einstein on the mind.

Keep us in your prayers.

Becks is growing!

2007-05-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

There is no excuse for my lack of posting recent pictures of Beckham (and the other boys), other then the simple fact that life is even busier around here with a new baby. Between Soccer, Baseball, School activities, PTA, birthday parties, working, cooking, cleaning (the list goes on and on) there never seems to be enough time to do it all.

We are enjoying Becks a lot, and he's grown leaps and bounds since I last posted. Here are some pictures of him on his 6-week birthday. He's fattening-up and stays awake for extended amounts of time - - although still sleeps all night long (which Brice and I are very thankful for).

I'll get pictures up this weekend of the kids in the baseball and soccer adventures so that you all know we aren't just sitting around the house watching Beckham grow (even though we are doing that - - at least 30-minutes a day).

Oh and a special thank you to my girlfriend Jenni Tomich who sent Becks the coolest baby jumpy contraption that you hang in the doorway. We can't wait to put Becks in it and watch him bounce himself silly!

Now that's a pile of Sh*t!

2007-05-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

...Quite literally...

Spring clean-up this week meant cleaning out our horse corral, so our buddy Johnny came over with his tractor and a blade and raked all the horse poop into a giant pile in the middle of the corral. We plan to use it for fertilizer in the garden, but in the meantime, there is just a huge pile of sh*t sitting there.

Who knew that 3-horses could make that much poop in just 5 months? Guess they are eating well!

Moons Over My Hammy

2007-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

(From the ONLY IN IDAHO! Department)

So I'm sitting at my desk working away on the computer last Thursday afternoon, when I hear our two dogs start barking up a storm. This isn't totally unusual - - they bark often when deer wander onto the property or the next door neighbors dog comes over to play -- so I ignore it. Then I hear the horses start to neigh and can hear the sound of them stampeding around the corral. Hummm.... Then I hear the Chickens (all the way from our barn) start to make their noises, and I know something's up.

Beckham knows something's up too, as all this noise has disturbed his nap, so I pick him up and together we walk to the window.

What do I see outside, but the cause for all this hullabaloo...

A GIANT PIG!

I've never seen a pig this large in all my life. I figure it's about 3,000 pounds, and I feel the adrenalin start to flow. I wonder... Is this a WILD pig? Will it eat my dogs?? Will it charge at me if I go out there? Where did it come from?? How did it get here? .... What the hell should I do?!?

Brice is at Landin's school coaching soccer practice, so I call him on his cell phone. I get his voicemail and leave him this message: "Hey Brice, it's me. Come home now. There is a 3,000 pound pig in our yard, and the animals are all going crazy. I have no idea what to do, but I do know that I am NOT going out there with that giant pig. Come home now... I'm serious, come home.. please... oh, and be careful when you get out of the car. love you!"

I wait and watch the pig from the window as it moseys around our property... the dogs are trying to herd it away from the house, the horses are still running in circles around the stable, and the chickens are still "cockel-doodle-doing" loudly. It's chaos.

Between the time that Brice roils into the driveway in our mini-van and the time I made the initial call to him (which was followed by at least 3 more urgent calls I made to his vmail) was about 30-minutes. During this time the giant pig has wandered down our back hill towards the lake, and when Brice gets there, he can't see him. I show him the pictures I've snapped of the giant pig so he believes me that this thing was here. Moments later, giant pig is back, and Brice totally gets why I called him 5 times on his cell phone ordering him to come home. This pig is enormous, and he has tusks!!

While we try to figure out what to do, the neighbors call the Sheriff (I guess THAT is what you do when a giant pig wanders onto your property). Meanwhile, it;s now time for me to leave for Bunko (I play with a group of gals one Thursday a month).

So I get to Bunko and we are sitting around chatting when I think to tell my friend Krystal about the funny pig experience. I figure she will get a kick out of it since her family raises pigs and her husband is the local butcher in town. So I start to tell her the story of my giant pig, and she interrupts me and asks,

"What color is the pig?"

It's black and white.

"Black head and tail, white middle?"

Yes.

"Does it have tusks?"

Yes, they are clipped.

"About this big (she holds up her hand)?"

Yep!

"I think it's HAMMY!"

No way!

So she calls her husband Angus, who then comes out to our house and ID's the pig. Turns out it IS Hammy. So Angus and the boys wrangle Hammy into his truck, and our giant pig is on his way home.

Apparently Hammy had been loaned out to another family as a stud, and he had gotten loose and made his way to our house for a visit. Turns out he doesn't weigh 3,000 pounds - but is closer to 1,000 (Still giant by any one's standards).

At any rate, it just goes to show you how small a town we live in... I mean how many times has a giant 1,000-pound pig walked into your yard only to find out it belongs to a lady you're playing Bunko with that night? I rest my case.

Thanks for the excitement Hammy. Next time you want to visit, let's just arrange a play date - - at your place!

Cubscout Pinewood Derby 2007

2007-04-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

I neglected to mention that while I was in the hospital with Beckham, Landin's cub scout pack held its annual Pinewood Derby Race. Each scout has to build their own derby car out of a square of wood and some wheels, and then they race against each other.

Brice helped Landin to build a car on the fly, and then took Landin to the race. They came to visit me that night in the hospital after the race, and Landin was grinning from ear to ear. He proudly announced that he had come in 3rd place in all his pack! He then revealed a trophy he had hidden behind his back. And... His 3rd place rank earned him a spot at the district finals.

The finals were at the high school 2-weeks later.

Here are all the final contestents:Here is Landin's car (the yellow one in the outside lane):

Although Landin didn't win the race he did win "most colorful car" for his bright yellow beauty - and was excited nonetheless.

Congratulations Landin!

Spring Soccer & Baseball Opening Day

2007-04-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was opening day for Little League, and was also opening day for Spring Soccer - - making it a SUPER busy day for us.

Landin is playing baseball on the Giants Rookie team this year:

And he is playing on the U-10 Squids Soccer team.Ryder is playing on the U-5 Cupcakes (and yes, their uniforms are PINK - UG!)

Brice is coaching both boys soccer games, so needless to say, things were a bit hectic on Saturday getting everything ready, everyone dressed in uniform, and out the door on time.

FUN!!

Our Cute Little Monkey Baby

2007-04-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

I joked before Beckham was born that having one more boy in this family is just like adding one more monkey to a barrel of monkeys.... Oh, how right I was!

Take a look at our cute little hairy monkey boy:

He has grown a ton, but its amazing how tiny he still is. Here is a photo of him and my hand that puts it into perspective nicely:

He's just a little bundle of love!

Easter 2007

2007-04-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

A delayed post on our Easter Celebration!

When the kids came downstairs Easter morning their baskets from the Easter Bunny were waiting for them. They quickly went for the candy, and when they were cut off (for our sanity later) they headed outside to hunt for eggs.

Here is Beckham with his first Easter Basket. (You can tell he is REALLY excited about it!)

We couldn't ask for a more beautiful backdrop for an egg hunt then this (our backyard)...

Ryder was stoked to find the egg he decorated with his own name on it... The weirdest part of this year's egg hunt was that sometime between 6am (when the bunny hid the eggs) and 8am when we started hunting for them, around half a dozen mysteriously disappeared! Hummm... some wild animals probably enjoyed a new kind of Easter feast this year thanks to us.

And speaking of feasts... After church we started cooking our own Easter feast. Lucky for me, my mom was still staying with us, so Brice took the kids outside to play while my mom and I baked.

Here is the Easter table and our feast:

The most important part of the meal was the dessert - edible peanut butter nests filled with candy eggs and lemon cupcakes with pink meringue.

Hope you all had a happy Easter too!

Beckham's Brothers

2007-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

With Beckham joining the family the boys have become - - "The Filippini Four"

Here are some shots of the Filippini brothers:

Ryder holding Beckham , just hours old:

Landin holding Beckham, just hours old:

Mazzy & Ryder at the hospital, too busy playing doctor to hold Beckham:Mazzy laying on the floor at home with Beckham:It's amazing how different they all look (and behave), each with his own unique personality!

More pictures of Beckham

2007-04-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

Beckham is settling in as the newest Filippini, and here are a few random shots from the last four days since we came home from the hospital:

Mommy holding up Beckham...

Beckham's foot in Mommy's hand...

Sleeping in his crib...
More pictures to come of Becks and his big brothers...

BABY BECKHAM HAS ARRIVED!

2007-03-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

The newest member of the Filippini Family arrived

on Tuesday, March 27th at 9:02 am.

Beckham Trace Filippini

weighed 6lbs 15.8oz & was 20 inches long

Beckham is healthy as can be and happy to be home with his brothers Landin, Ryder, and Mazlow.

(More pictures to come)

Happy 2nd Birthday Mazlow!!!!

2007-03-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Mazlow is 2. It seems like just yesterday when he was a baby in our arms, and soon he'll be a big brother!

With Beckham due any day now, this may be the last year that Mazlow celebrates a birthday that is truly his own. With his brother's big day just days from his, I imagine we will look to ways to combine their celebrations. But this year, Mazzy didn't have to share the spotlight with anyone. He lived it up and enjoyed his Birthday party to the fullest. I'm glad we got the chance to do this special party for him before the baby was born - - I think it really meant a lot to him.

On the morning of his big day, Mazlow finally mastered the answer to "How old is Mazzy?" ... He would hold up one finger on each hand and bring them together in front of his face and he drawled out the word "ttwwwoooooooo". Too cute was what it was!

In celebration of the fact that Mazlow was born on St. Patrick's Day, we finished the day with a dinner of corned beef and cabbage (prepared by my dear girlfriends Jenn and Nicole who swept in after the party and cleaned and cooked so that I could recover from the party). It was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday for Mazlow!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mazlow! We Love you!!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Presents

2007-03-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mazlow received some lovely gifts for his birthday, and this year he had a blast opening the gifts himself. We were all amazed at how he tore into the wrapping paper like a pro! The present table...

Mazzy with one of his favorite gifts - a giant Mazzy-sized dinosaur.

Mazzy tearing into some Imaginext dinosaurs from his brothers...

Opening a giant handmade stuffed Bear made by my friend Brenda especially for Mazzy...
Sporting his new goggles and squirt gun, Mazzy is ready for summer.

Special thanks to all of Mazlow's friends and family that showered him with such special gifts!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Pinata

2007-03-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

Mazzy had a monkey pinata for his party. We rigged it up to make it one of our infamous "non-violent" pinatas where the kids pull strings instead of whacking it with a stick. One LUCKY string opens the trap door...

Nearly everyone got a try pulling strings, and the kids filled their jungle print bags with candy!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Cake

2007-03-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

For Mazzy's cake I made a giant bright Orange Snake with Green Stripes.

Mazlow came downstairs around 5am as I was finishing up the cake, and looked wide-eyed at it and said "MINE?!?" Needless to say he was eager to eat it up!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Lunch

2007-03-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Lunch was set at the table before the kids arrived, so that they could all eat at the same time without waiting for food to be served.

23 kids dined on PB&J with the crusts cut off, Jungle animal shaped Jello Jigglers, Chips, and Wormy Mud cups.

Mazlow especially loved his wormy mud cup. (Guess we don't feed him enough mud)!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Crafts

2007-03-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

In between the games and lunch we had 2 crafts set-up for the kids to do:

After they arrived and were checked-in we sent the kids to the back porch to be "fingerprinted". I had printed out a poem onto a sheet of card stock, and the kids dipped their hands into paint and laid their paw prints onto the paper with the poem. We hung them to dry during the party so they were ready to go home with the kids at the end.

The second craft was a huge hit... we made Necktie Snakes.

I bought 25 random cheesy neckties at local thrift stores, gently ripped the seams open at the large ends, and then my mom sewed small squares of red felt to the bottoms to create an open mouth. The kids picked out the "snake skin" (AKA necktie) they liked and then stuffed it with fabric stuffing. We then attached googly eyes and a ribbon tongue and my mom sewed them closed for the kids.

Even the adults got into stuffing the snakes.

They turned out really cute and the kids loved the 3 foot long stuffed creatures.

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Games

2007-03-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

We set-up 3 games for Mazlow's Party:

A "Feed the Animals" Beanbag Toss (Brice drew the animals and then I painted them). Winners in the beanbag toss got bragging rights for the rest of the party, while all players received a jungle print expandable fan for playing.

A Fishing game where the kids fished for jungle prizes like zebra bracelets, baggies of Goldfish crackers, and cheetah print wristbands.

A Guessing Game where the kids had to guess the number of frogs, snakes, bugs, and jungle animals in containers. The kid with the closest guess got to take the container full of treasures home.

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Signs

2007-03-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

We decorated the house with signs for Mazlow's party...

And that was just the beginning...

Preparing For Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party

2007-03-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

To Celebrate Mazlow's 2nd Birthday, we decided on a Jungle Adventure Theme. I created invitations on the computer that we printed out and inserted into the card invites that came with with party set we ordered from Birthday Express:
Along with this sheet, the invitation also included a "Passport" for each child invited to the party. The invitation asked them to add their name and picture to the passport and to bring it with them to the party to "gain entrance to the island".
On the back of the passports was the agenda for the day's activities (hopefully encouraging parents to arrive on time - and it worked!)
When the kids got to the party, they were greeted at the door by the safari guides (me and my mom). They showed us their completed passports, which we then stamped with the official seal of the island (a jungle sticker) and dropped into a plastic slip on a lanyard that they could wear around their neck. In the back pocket of the plastic slip were a series of coupons for each of the activities scheduled throughout the day.
The first coupon was for a visit to the medic. When they gave us this coupon, the kids were presented with a baggy of "malaria pills" (AKA Hot Tamales Candy) and "Typhoid Shot" (a fake prick with a Fisher Price injectable needle followed by a Jungle Bandaide).

They had a ticket for Lunch...

They had tickets for all the games and crafts...

The last coupon they used before they headed home was for their treat bag parting gift.

A Baby Shower for Beckham - THANK YOU JENN & NICOLE!

2007-03-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say a very special thank you to my dear friends Jennifer and Nicole, who put together the amazing baby shower.

It was a night I will never forget, and you guys made me and Brice feel so loved. Thank you for all the hard work you put into it, and for putting-up with me not making up my mind on a theme until the very last minute. You guys are both so amazing!

Thank you for being my friends, and for loving me enough to take time out of your busy lives to plan, organize, cook, decorate, and host Baby Beckham's Shower.

I love you guys!

A Baby Shower for Beckham - The Moses Basket!

2007-03-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend Brenda is incredibly crafty, so when I couldn't find a Moses Basket that fit Beckham's theme, I turned to her. I picked out the fabric that I wanted and then turned my design over to her to transform into a reality.

The result is STUNNING!

Brenda took this one over the top, creating a gift for Beckham that we will cherish always. She even used some of the extra fabric to make a stuffed animal dog she named "Hammy" (after my fear that Beckham will some how come to be known as anything related to HAM).

Thank you for the Piece De Resistance of Beckham's nursery Brenda! You are amazing!! I LOVE IT!

A Baby Shower for Beckham - Gifts!

2007-03-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

I know it's hard to pick-out a gift for a family that already has 3 kids, but our friends were super creative and generous - - and hooked Beckham up with some really neat stuff!

Our friends Karianne and David even put together a lovely gift box full of "Mom pampering" treats like lotions, candles, bath stuff, and chocolate for me to enjoy! What fun! Thanks guys!

Kathy and Johnny found a cute tummy-time mat in the shape of a surf board to remind little Beckham of his California roots!

Jessica and Brandon picked out a really special ceramic cross with a special message for Beckham that we plan to hang in his nursery.

Ron and Christine found a Leap Pad learning toy just for infants... our big boys love their leap pad, so I'm sure this will be a big hit with Beckham!

Karen, Allen, and Nick picked out some adorable brown bear Robeez (our favorite shoes in the whole world for the kids) just the right size for baby Beckham. Can't wait to try them on him!

Tawnya made Beckham a special quilt with a fishing theme (given this is North Idaho, and Brice's penchant for trips to Round Lake). A true heirloom that we will always treasure! Tawnya also found a really special little outfit that I think we will use to bring home Beckham from the hospital in.

Kris and Steve picked out a series of our favorite board books (thank heavens, since all of ours have been chewed-on by several children and have seen much better days!) and a cool Baby Einstein CD to play for Beckham.

Nicole, Eric, Jenn, Jason, and April got together and created a series of Western-themed pails and stuffed them with goodies for Beckham. Each pail had a special tag for it's theme... this one was "B is for Beckham" and had cute jeans and a flannel shirt, a special snugly cow blanket, Beckham's first cowboy boots, and more!

The "B is for Baby Boy" pail had diapers, wipes, and a super cool camo outfit among other treats.

The "B is for Bath time" pail had a multitude of Burts Bees creams, lotions, soaps, and powders, some cute bath toys, and a series of Western/Cowboy rubber duckies.

Here is the super cute "Beckham's first camo" outfit

And here are Beckham's first cowboy boots.

Krystal and Angus picked out a beautiful family-themed black and white picture frame that will be perfect in Beckham's nursery, and Sarah and Ryan hooked Beckham up with a gift card for Old Navy where we plan to get him a little something special.

Our friends Heather and Chris couldn't make it to the shower, but they dropped-off an adorable froggy 3-piece outfit for Beckham along with some other goodies that I can't wait to put on him.

THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!!!

You guys are the best friends anyone could ask for, and our family is very blessed to have people like you in our support circle.

A Baby Shower for Beckham - Friends!

2007-03-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

So many wonderful friends joined us for the special celebration of Baby Beckham and our entrance into the world of an even FOUR children to love and support. Kris, Tawnya, Jenn, and Me Me and Christine
Steve and Adam, with lots of people at the table

Ron, Jenn, Eric, Johnny, and Jason in the living room
Jason and Brice
Me and Jessica
Me and Krystal (she is due TODAY!)

Krystal and her hubby Angus
Brice and Eric chilling on the couch
Jessica, Karen, and Brandon
David & Karianne and Ron & Christine
Ron, David, Karen, Allen, Kathy and Johnny.

Somehow I missed pictures of quite a few others, but thanks to those people for coming too!

Brice and I are so thankful to have such wonderful friends to celebrate with!

A Baby Shower for Beckham - The Games

2007-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

The baby shower was a co-ed couples shower, so the hubbies came along too!

We played a few traditional games like baby picture matching, but the highlight for the boys seemed to be the "Don't say BABY" game where you can't say the word BABY and if you do, whomever catches it takes away the pastel-colored plastic clothes pin you started the game with. In the end the person with the most clothes pins wins.

The guys were fiercely competitive at this game. Our friend Johnny captured a whole bunch of pins, which he placed across his chest and as women commented on the number of pins he had accumulated he would incredulously say "my eyes are up here," of course referring to men's propensity for starring at a women's chest instead of her eyes.

Johnny didn't win the game in the end, getting caught in a political conversation about child support that tricked him into saying BABY and thus loosing ALL his clothes pins. Poor Johnny. The funniest part of the "Don't say BABY" game was how the boys who had already lost their clothes pins turned the whole thing into a drinking game... Jason broke open the Patron that we got him for his birthday and the boys insisted that any man who said BABY and didn't have a clothes pin to give up had to take a shot.

Needless to say, Brice and Jason were taking most of the shots themselves!

A Baby Shower for Beckham - The Decorations

2007-03-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

The theme for Baby Beckham's room is "retro western" so Nicole and Jennifer (the fine ladies who planned my baby shower) took this to the next level with incredible themed-decorations that transformed Jenn's house into a Baby Western Delight! They strung hand-appliqued western-themed onesies from the mantel and decorated with red, black and white balloons everywhere.
They decorated cute aluminum baskets with cowboy fringe, and filled them with awesome mini-cowpoke goodies for Beckham.
Me at the shower with the boot filled with red carnations.
The gift table, covered in a cool cow hide!

The fabulous cake that Jenn made (tasted wonderful!) in the shape of a boot!
The cute boot with flowers.
One of the tables decorated in cow print and cowboy garb.
Some authentic chaps that were perfect for the decor.
One of the food tables where Nicole used mini boots to feature the silverware... which came with her brilliant idea to use them later for bookends in Beckham's room.

The ladies cooked-up two kinds of yummy chili with all the fixin's and we enjoyed finger food galore! Yeee-Haaa!

Baby Registry

2007-02-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

I guess buying a gift for a "new Mom" with 3 kids is harder than buying a gift for a real "New Mom"... With my baby shower right around the corner, and just 4-weeks until Baby Beckham is due to arrive, I've had a number of people ask me about what we "need" and "want" for the baby.

My girlfriends talked me into registering to make things easier on them (smile), so I did - at Target and Babies"R"Us, even though it felt weird. Here is the info in case you were one of those who asked me to register or if you are interested:

Target (in store and online at www.Target.com)
Parents: MELISSA K BURNS & BRICE M FILIPPINI
Location: ID
Expected Arrival Date: 3/28/2007
Target Baby Gift Registry #: 011003993838481

Babies"R"Us (In stores and online at http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp)
Click on the link below to go to the Baby Registry homepage.
http://www.babiesrus.com/registry/index.jsp
Your Baby Registry Information
Registrant(s): Melissa Burns and Brice Filippini
Registry #: 39430533

The theme for Beckham's nursery is "retro western" - think Dick and Jane playing cowboy... The colors are Beige, Red, Brown, and Black. Giddy-up!

Cub Scouts - Blue and Gold Dinner - ALOHA

2007-02-27T22:53:00.000-08:00

Landin's Cub Scout Pack held it's annual Blue & Gold dinner this past weekend - with a Hawaiian theme. We dug into our dress-up box and found a matching moo-moo and shirt set, that my mom and dad had made in Hawaii on their honeymoon, that suited Landin and I just perfect. My parents were married in the 70's so the colors were a bit on the pychadellic side - but they were perfect for this occasion. So we all dressed-up and off we were (amidst the falling snow) dressed in our Hawaiian costumes for the night. Landin received several awards and patches he had earned at the dinner, and we all enjoyed a lovely meal together. ALOHA!

Valentine's Day Pictures

2007-02-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

Here is the picture of Landin and his girlfriend on Valentine's Day:Here is the Valentine's Day bag Landin made us (pay no attention to the typo, rather, focus in on his excellent handwriting): Here are the boys snuggled up on the couch Valentine's night, the best gift anyone could ask for:
Happy Valentine's Day!

Not the greatest Valentines Day ever (but not the worst either)

2007-02-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

So as most of you know, I've been dealing with this undiagnosed stomach pain (apparently unrelated to the baby) since October, and as of late it has been getting worse. I still have "okay" days where the pain is tolerable and I can go along my merry way, but 4-5 days a week the pain is there and wrecks havoc - eliminating any normalcy in my life.

Some days are much worse than others. The pain is usually worse at night, so I know its going to be a bad day when the pain is there from the moment I wake up. The Monday before Valentine’s Day was one of those days.

It had been a rough weekend, but I had stayed home, and rested-up as I had a busy week ahead of me at work. When I woke up on Monday I went straight to work, attempting to take my mind off the pain. By the time 9am rolled around I was to the point in my copping mechanisms where the coping becomes very audible - in other words - I'm moaning out loud to try to deal. I let my partner John know that I would have to excuse myself from the conference calls we had scheduled that day as my moaning and groaning would probably be rather disruptive. He insisted I go see the doctor (again) and take the rest of the day off.

I tried to divert the pain by staying busy, but it won out, and by 11am I called the doctor to make an appointment, letting them know it was a BAD day. They told me to come in as soon as I could, so I put on some comfy clothes, waited for Brice to get home from picking Ryder up from school, and we headed to the doctors’ office.

I was at the end of my rope as I walked up to the office only to find that they were all "out to lunch" for the next hour. Nope, I couldn’t wait. I called the office hotline from my cell, said I was standing outside, and that I didn't think I could wait an hour. Luckily the hospital is next door. They said to head over there, and that the doctor would be there shortly. Brice drove me the 2-blocks it is to get there (doubt I could have walked), and when we pulled up to the door I asked them to just leave me there - - the last thing I wanted was a bunch of hullaballo dragging the kids into the waiting room, etc... so I stumbled into the hospital on my own.

I must have looked pretty bad, because at least 3 ladies with wheelchairs rolled immediately to my assistance, asking if I was in labor. I said no, I didn't think so (6-more weeks to go!) but that I WAS in a lot of pain. They got me checked in really quickly (again, I must have looked scary 'cause everything moved really quickly and I was in the bed in the labor and delivery unit before I knew it).

The pain had taken a lot out of me, and as it wore me down it had brought on a series of contractions that felt like a knife stabbing into an open wound (about every 3 minutes)... They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and Beckham was a moving and his heart was beating away like a champ. No problems there. The problem was the other line on the monitor - - the one that said I was having big 'ol gnarly contractions 3 minutes apart on an ongoing basis. Not good for someone who has 6-weeks more to go! They gave me a shot to get the contractions to stop (which was equally as bad a feeling as the contractions, but at least reduced the chances that Beckham would be born too early) and after a bit the contractions slowed down. But H-E-L-L-O, they still hadn't given me anything for the pain! Their priority was making sure Beckham was safe and was staying inside for awhile longer, so as soon as that was under control, they turned their efforts to fixing the pain that brought me there in the first place. AHhhhhhhhh. A bit of Percocete did the trick (although it made me itch like crazy, which later they were able to anticipate and counteract with some Benedryll.)

It took 3 shots of the "contraction stopper" to get things where they were manageable, and pain killers every couple of hours so I could get some rest. The next day, things were still sketchy, so they kept me there on the monitor and on the meds under observation.

The next day was Valentine's Day, and the hospital was the last place I wanted to be on Valentine's Day. Brice was such a God-send (when hasn't he been through this all - The man is a Saint!) and he took care of wrapping up the Valentine’s gifts we had for the kids, and he set them out for them so that they were waiting for the boys when they woke up. He brought the kids to visit me every night I was in the hospital, and they called my Valentine’s Day morning to wish me a happy happy before they set off for school.

The docs decided I could go home, if I took it easy and rested-up - - so mid day on Valentine’s Day, I was released. I really wanted to surprise Landin and show up at his Valentine’s Day party at school, so we headed over there.

He was surprised all right, but not as surprised as I was to see what he was wearing. If you know me at all, you know how important it is to me that my kids are well-dressed and presentable (actually more than presentable, I like them to be ultra-coordinated). So on Valentine's Day I was expecting that Landin would be wearing something nice, a bit dressier than normal, and of course RED. No, he was not. He was wearing a pair of blue cords, which would have been fine, had they been his - - but they were Ryder's...meaning they were 4-5 inches too short. Couple the high-water pants with boat shoes and no socks (it's snowing outside mind you), and a ratty long sleeve t-shirt (also navy blue) and that pretty much sums up Landin's outfit. He looked ridiculous, and of course, I was crushed. I had come to the party with the hopes of taking a few photos of him and his new girlfriend Jennifer, whom he never stops talking about. But while Jennifer was dressed as you would expect, in a lovely red and pink dress, Landin was not in his photo ready duds. I still took the picture, but insisted he put his snow jacket on, and only took the picture from the waist up. When I asked Landin why he was wearing Ryder's pants, he replied that they were the only pants he could find. The first thing I did when I got home was a load of laundry - every pair of Landin's pants I could find - so that the next morning he had a dozen pairs to choose from, all with appropriate hem lines. Welcome home!

Since I was in the hospital for the first part of the week, and had spent the previous weekend in bed, I hadn't had the chance to get or make Brice anything special for Valentine’s Day. And since he was stuck taking care of me and the kids and playing Mom and Dad for the whole family, Brice didn't have a chance either. He regave me a box of chocolates he had bought me for Christmas that I hadn't opened yet (they were already wrapped in red paper, so all he had to do was cross out the "from Santa" and replace it with a "from cupid"). It was cute, and made me laugh… I felt loved, and that was the point.

I managed to make Brice a construction paper card with a crayon drawing, but that was the extent of my gift giving for the holiday. I was lucky that I had purchased the kids gifts several weeks before when I found red t-shirts in all the kids’ sizes that said "It's My Brother's Fault" and I bought one for each boy. I guess the real Valentine's Day present was that I was home with my boys, and Beckham was still safe inside my belly, growing stronger everyday. And really, who could ask for more than that (Oh, and I guess pants that fit, we all need those too).

A couple days after Valentine's Day, some friends of ours offered to watch the kids so Brice and I could enjoy a nice romantic dinner out, just the two of us. We took them up on the offer and enjoyed a lovely dinner at a local restaurant right on the beach in town. It more than made up for the "untraditional" Valentine’s Day we had this year. I hope all of your Valentine's Days were much more traditionally romantic and enjoyable! Happy belated Valentine's Day!

Cub Scouts -- Birdhouses, Food Pyramids, & Cakes - OH MY!

2007-02-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Landin had his monthly Cub Scout Pack Meeting - and with it came a whirlwind of building, gluing, cutting, pasting, baking, and decorating to ready for the big night.

Landin had to build a birdhouse (he opted for a colorful theme utilizing the many decorative elements present in his "I'm not bored anymore Art Jar" I made him for Christmas) :He had to create a Food Pyramid (Landin had to research the structure of the pyramid, and then cut out pictures for each category.... This activity was all part of his "health" achievement for Cub Scouts): And last, but not least, he had to Bake a Cake with his Dad for the Father Son bake-off . The cake had to be homemade, and would be entered into a contest with categories like "tallest", "longest", "most colorful", and "most creative". Landin was aiming for a prize in the "Cub Scoutiest" - which WAS actually a category. Brice baked a huge circle cake and he and Landin covered it with chocolate frosting. I added a "scroll" made of rolled-out sugar fondant and wrote out the Cub Scout Promise on the scroll. :We worked hard through the week to get everything ready for Wednesday, which was good planning given how busy the day turned out to be (Landin had school from 8-3:30, Strikers Soccer from 5-6:30, and Cub Scouts from 6:30-9pm). In the end the whole day was a big success. Landin's Birdhouse and Food Pyramid made a great showing and he won the "Cub Scoutiest" prize for his cake. Now, on to the next project...

Early Valentine's Day Treats

2007-02-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the kids and I made "early Valentine Cookies" our weekly baking project (to ensure the ever-present glass pedestal that sits center stage on our kitchen island is filled with treats for the rest of the week).

We recognized it was bit early for Valentine's cookies, but after the amount of chocolate we ingested around Brice's birthday (between layers upon layers of chocolate cake, Oreos, and Chocolate Chip Pancakes) we were all ready for a break from Chocolate. The kids wanted to use the cookie cutters - and any day is a good day to celebrate LOVE... so Heart Cookies it was.

Here is the finished batch:
We made a special cookie for each of the kids that they got to enjoy right away: Mazlow licked his name off his cookie before I could even snap a picture of him with it! I even made a couple for Brice and myself... (No idea why I put "Mom" instead of "Melissa" since I opted for "Brice" vs. "Dad" - Oh Well!)

Happy early Valentine's Day!

Happy 30th Birthday Brice!!!

2007-01-27T02:07:00.000-08:00

After all was said and done, the best part of the night was that Brice was surrounded by good friends, and everyone had a great time.
Happy Birthday Brice! We LOVE you!!

Little Whizzer

2007-01-27T01:59:00.000-08:00

You know it's a good party when you break-out the "Little Whizzer"!

For Brice's 21st Birthday he got the "Little Whizzer," a battery-operated alcohol dispenser in the shape of a boy peeing from a pedestal (in a classy, artsy kind of depiction - okay, not so classy, but art-like).
So during the party, at some point, we decide to break-out the "Little Whizzer" which hasn't seen the light of day for years, but I had just happen to come across it when getting out decorations for Brice's party.

Brice fills it with some scary liquor and promises the first shot to his friend Jason, but alas - - the Little Whizzer has stage fright. Jason and Brice believe the issue to be one of batteries, and swiftly change the double-A's, but to no avail. So, Jason (AKA Mr. Fix It) goes at the Little Whizzer with a screwdriver and a headlamp (remember the room was lit by candlelight), which was a sight to see in itself. In the end, the Little Whizzer never did get over his stage fright. But that didn't stop Brice and the boys from up-ending Little Whizzer and pouring his contents into shot glasses anyways. You gotta love the Little Whizzer!

Games & Gifts

2007-01-27T01:43:00.000-08:00

I put together a game for the party using pictures of Brice over the last 30-years, and challenged people to put the pictures in the correct order: Brice got a slew of hilarious gag gifts, but his favorite gift of all was a Berretta from his "pal" Jason (Thanks Jas! - said Brice's wife, her voice dripping with sarcasm):The kids and I got Brice a new 80G video iPod for his birthday - but clearly an iPod that plays movies and music is nothing compared to a GUN!

Brice Beer for the party

2007-01-27T01:31:00.000-08:00

In celebration of Brice's big day, I pasted his face on every can and bottle of beer that we served...

Here is just a sampling of the Brice Beer Labels that adorned the beer that was consumed over the course of the evening:

I did pay attention though to the women who snagged the bottles with pictures of Brice in the pool...

More Food for Brice's 30th Birthday

2007-01-27T01:20:00.000-08:00

And a few more pics from the youthful food room:

Needless to say we have enough left-overs to host a small army for snack time (or to have a superbowl party)...

Food For Brice's 30th Birthday Party

2007-01-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

The food for the party was seperated into two rooms: One bright and colorful "regaining your youth through food" room, and one " Sophisticated Eats for the mature palate" room.

Here are some pictures of the Youthful Food:

For each of the food items, I made a sign tying it back to Brice's youth... afterall these are most of his favorites (except for the boons - that was for the ladies).

Decorating for Brice's 30th B-Day Party

2007-01-27T00:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the invitation that we sent out for Brice's party:
____________________________________________

Please join us to celebrate, weep, and to cry
To mourn the lost youth of a real special guy
For our dear friend Brice is leaving his 20’s
We can’t make this easy, he deserves to be punished.
For youth is so fleeting; and now Brice’s is done
It’s only fair that we tease him, and at his expense have some fun
On January 19th, a Friday night
A wake will be held to honor Brice right
So please come at seven and plan to stay late
We will eat, drink, and be merry, and on his youth close the gate
Please come dressed all in black, from your head to toe
For this is the way for your condolences to show
The doom and gloom party’s at 192 BobbieLynn Lane
Brice may greet you at the door with his false teeth and cane
We might attempt karaoke (if the lyrics Brice can still read)
And celebrate properly the life Brice will lead
‘Cause he’s turning 30, and we’re all his friends
It’s time to party and ensure his youthfulness never ends!
_____________________________________________

With a dress in all black, and come to mourn Brice's lost youth theme, the party decorations had to transform our otherwise bright and cheery home into the mournfest we hoped to have for Brice.

We started with a wreath on the front door...

and a Welcome To The Party sign on the front porch. Then we covered the house with candles and dimmed the lights. Added some tombstones and black dried flowers and branches, and covered the tables in black fabric and 30's of every shape and variety.
And of course to top it all off, I ordered in fresh snow(Okay, I had nothing to do with the 6+ inches of snow we got that night, but it was a nice effect!)

Brice's 30th B-Day Cake

2007-01-27T00:35:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we celebrated Brice's 30th Birthday with a big party - and mourned the passing of his youth.

I baked him a 3 tiered (6-layers of cake) chocolate birthday cake for the occasion. This is the back side of the cake.

And this is the front side...It was tasty too!

KISS MY BELLY!

2007-01-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

I'm 6 1/2 -months along now carrying "Baby Beckham" and the boys love to rub my belly (like I'm a Buddha), talk to Beckham, and give him belly kisses.

Our trip to the water park had me in a two-piece bathing suit with my belly exposed and ripe for kisses.

Landin puts his cheek up against my belly so that Beckham can give him a brotherly kick in the face - - BOYS! Once he gets one he thanks Beckham with a kiss:
Ryder thinks he has to talk really loud so that Beckham can hear him... Here he is screaming his message to the babyMazlow is the most gentle of all when it comes to my belly. He gives my belly a gentle pat and lays a light kiss on me. He's going to be a fine big brother. The boys surround their mama Thank goodness Beckham is a BOY too!... that leaves me as the sole female in the household - an enviable position ;-)

Pictures from the Water Park (Boulder Beach)

2007-01-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to Boulder Beach, the indoor water park in town. They keep it around 85 degrees inside and there is tons for the kids to do - making it a desirable location to escape the chill outside and let the kids burn some energy. Santa brought the boys a gift certificate for tickets to the park, so off we were to play in the water!

Mazlow in his cute little floaty suit:
Brice took Mazzy down the slides.. He LOVED it:
Brice loaded the boys up on a tube and took them out in the wave pool:
Mazzy took a rest with Mama on the lounge chairs and watched the older boys play:
Brice and the older boys relaxed on a tube in the wave pool:
Ryder was having such a blast; he even tried the BIG water slide (once) this time:Playing in water makes kids (and adults) super hungry.. We're off to Outback Steak House (Thanks Grandpa Duke for the Christmas Gift Certificate -what a meal!)

Pictures from our December hikes

2007-01-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos from our various treks through the woods behind our house during the Christmas break:

Landin making a snow angel:

The finished product: Mazlow getting ready for his turn to sled:
Brice with Mazlow in the backpack: Landin and Ryder scoping out the sledding hill behind the house:The fam crossing the bridge over the stream (notice that Ryder is lying on the ground... again... he spends a lot of time there):

Potter and Einstein love the snow (Also, they posed for this picture... good dogs!):

Yeah for snow! (Raise your hand if you never thought you would hear me say that - - okay, now everyone put your hands down)

Quick Update to Get Caught-Up!

2007-01-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have no good excuse for why I haven't updated you all in awhile (Since Christmas - YIKES!), and a bunch of you have called me on it, so here goes.... I'll attempt to get caught up as best I can so that I can head into the weekend with a fresh new post on the big shindig we are planning for Brice's 30th birthday (His B-Day is this Saturday).

*** The week following Christmas was spent at home, enjoying all the new presents everyone got. We had beautiful snow all week, and the sun even peeked out a few days, allowing for a couple of fun treks through the woods behind our house.

***New Years Eve was spent with close friends at a fondue party. We played some games, dipped some food, and stayed-up late. The adult party was at one house, while the collective kids stayed at our house with a babysitter. That made for fun clean-up on New Years day.

***With one day left of his Winter Vacation, and a gift certificate for the local water park burning a hole in his pocket, Landin begged Brice and I to plan a trip to Triple Play (the water park). So on Jan. 2nd we headed to town and spent the day at the water park. We finished off the day with an incredible dinner at Outback. Landin told us it was "one of his best days ever"

***Landin and Ryder went back to school on Wed, and Melissa returned to work. The break was wonderful and completely relaxing - - everything vacation should be (but rarely really is). I'm beginning to believe that the snow is to blame. I'm finding the snow to be incredibly peaceful and calming... as I've given in to the fact that its cold and wet and unpredictable, and that it makes driving conditions scary... I've come to realize that it brings peace as it gently falls to the ground; blanketing all the ugliness of dead trees and weeds and uneven landscape with a beautiful, perfect, white blanket. There is a silence when its snowing that is so calming. And as for the driving conditions, well... it just means we spend a whole lot more time at home, as a family, entertaining one another - - and you won't hear a single argument from me on that.

Mazlow's Presents!

2006-12-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

Santa hooked Mazzy up with a super cool wooden work bench, with a bunch of tools to use with it. Mazzy wasn't sure what to do with it until his brothers jumped in and showed him how it all worked. After that, he wouldn't put the cute little wooden tools down. Santa also brought Mazzy a couple of giant play dinosaurs that chomp their teeth and make dino noises, which all the boys have got a kick out of. With his shoe fetish, it's no surprise that one of Mazzy's favorite gifts was a new pair of shoes!

Mazlow also got excited about a Robinhood DVD and a Dora the explorer Memory Game.

Merry Christmas Mazlow!

Ryder's Christmas Gifts!

2006-12-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

Ryder was so worried before Christmas because when he sat on Santa's lap he had forgot to tell him that he really wanted a bike. Brice and I assured Ryder that we had passed the message on to Santa, but Ryder was still unsure.

The last thing he asked us before he went to bed on Christmas Eve was, "Are you sure you told Santa that I wanted a bike for Christmas?"

When Ryder came downstairs on Christmas morning, a bright green and yellow John Deere bike was waiting there for him with a big red bow! He loved the bike, and was excited to see that Santa had also delivered the Superman laptop that he had been eyeing in the toy store.
Ryder's other favorite gifts included his remote control car, his snow jacket, Superman Returns and Veggie Tales DVDs, a DVD game, and a fingerpainting set.

Merry Christmas Ryder!

Landin's Loot!

2006-12-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Landin had lots of things he wanted for Christmas this year - but most of all - he was dying for a PSP.

When Landin came downstairs he found a chair decked out with a new snowboarding jacket and other snow accessories, surrounded by his stocking and several presents wrapped in green paper. In the center of the pile was one gift wrapped in gold with a red bow. Landin opened that one first... The golden present was the PSP that Landin had wanted, and he was overjoyed!

Landin got a bunch of other cool stuff, but his top gifts (besides the PSP) were his new indoor soccer shoes, and seasons 1,2,&3 of Smallville on DVD.

Merry Christmas Landin!

Melissa's Presents

2006-12-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

Santa brought Melissa a little bit of everything she enjoys most (some sweets, sparkling water, Starbucks goodies, P.J's, slippers, cute socks, jewelery, cooking tools, and best of all - time watching her kids and Brice open presents specially picked out for them)...

Melissa's favorite gifts were her Paul Frank PJ's and slippers,

a fabulous pair of Boots,

and a Cuisinart food processor!

Merry Christmas Melissa!

Brice's Christmas Gifts

2006-12-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

Santa brought Brice a pair of Bose headphones and some sweet Burton Snowboarding Gloves in his stocking; among other things...His gifts from Mom and the Boys were focused around a Rock Climbing theme and included a gift certificate for the materials to build a climbing wall in our barn, and all the climbing equipment he would need (rope, caribeaners, harness, shoes, chalk & bag, etc.). He also got some new fancy running shoes to keep his new running routine at the gym going smoothly.

Merry Christmas Brice!

Presents From Santa!

2006-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

When we came downstairs on Christmas morning we found Santa most certainly had visited us - and we must have been very good this year - 'cause he hooked us up!

He left presents for Brice: He left presents for Melissa: He left presents for Landin: He left presents for Ryder: And He left presents for Mazlow: He even left presents for Potter & Einstein (The dogs) and Tinkerbell (The Cat)!

Christmas in the Kids Room

2006-12-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

I've already posted pictures of the tree we put up in the kids room, but since putting it up, the kids added quite a few things to the mix. First, they made a super long chain made-up of strips of Christmas paper, and hung that to frame the tree. Then, they colored pieces of paper to spell out "WELCOME SANTA," which they layed out on the table at the entrance to their room for Santa to see. And last, they cleaned their entire room (since Santa had mentioned to them when they saw him on the lake that their room needed some work). All was set for a visit from Santa to the boys room...

Santa rewarded the kids' efforts with a few select gifts and a stocking for each of them delivered to their room:
When the kids woke-up they spent the first bit of Christmas morning enjoying the gifts in their room, while Brice and I got dressed.

Mazlow especially like the candy canes and the Christmas crackers (which is where he got the crown).

When everyone was dressed and ready we headed downstairs to see if Santa left any other presents for us...

Christmas Eve (Night)

2006-12-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

It was finally dark on Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of Tri-Tip, Green Salad, Garlic Bread and Potatoes. There were just a few things left to do before sending the kids off to bed...

We had to finish off our Advent Calendar. The kids had a lego advent calendar this year, where for each day of December they got to open a window which revealed a mini-bag of legos along with instructions on what they were to build. When you added all the sets up from the whole month, it made a lego city. It was a nice alturnative to candy advent calendars, since we're not big on too much sugar for them.
With our advent calendar completed, it was time to read some Christmas Books. Each of the kids picked-out one, and we sat in the big chair all together and read them aloud. After the fun Christmas books, the last thing to do to make the night complete was to read the Christmas Story together from the book Luke. We used Landin's bible this year, and cuddled-up once more to share the true story of Christmas. By the time we were finished with the Christmas Story, the kids were fading quickly, and didn't even put up a fight when we hauled them off to bed and tucked them in. Tomorrow was Christmas!

Christmas Eve (Afternoon)

2006-12-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

The kids and I baked Gingerbread cookies a couple days before, so that we could decorate them on Christmas Eve. So with our morning appointments out of the way, there was nothing stopping us from decorating to our heart's content... All of us got into the decorating spirit, even Brice!I spent my decorating time working on a series of blue stars with each of our names on one: The rest of the cookies came out lovely:
The kids selected a couple that they thought Santa would especially like, and they set them out for Santa by the tree, along with a glass of milk:We sampled a few cookies too (of course!) while we played Christmas Mad libs (a true Filippini Christmas Eve Tradition). Cookies and Christmas Madlibs... that means Christmas was almost here!

Christmas Eve (Morning)

2006-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

We had such a busy day on Christmas Eve, it all won't fit into one post! Here is what our morning looked like...

We started the day early, having to be at church for the 8:30am service because Brice and I were scheduled to work in the nursery for the 9:45 and 11:30 gatherings.

So we dressed the kids in their Sunday best and were off! Mazlow was dressed in his cute little santa suit:

While Landin and Ryder were wearing ties:

At church, we had someone try to snap a picture of the whole family (never can get everyone looking at the same time):

After church we had plans to drop by a friends house in town, but with an hour to kill before we had to be there, and our tummys rumbling (especially mine) we decided to make a quick pit stop at McDonalds and grab some greese (not a new Christmas Eve tradition by any stretch of the imagination). The kids thought it was a great treat, and I have to admit, those fries tasted pretty good at the time! With his Santa Suit on, Mazzy looked color coordinated with Ronald McDonald:

After lunch at Mickey D's, we headed over to our friend's house to exchange gifts. The kids played and we sampled some of Jenn's fabulous baking (yummy!)

When we got home, Landin's buddy Avery came by to drop some stuff off, and took the kids for a couple spins around the yard on his snow mobile. Thank goodness for the White Christmas that made playing outside such a treat!

By then, it was nearing the late afternoon, and we hadn't even started decorating our gingerbread cookies...

Christmas At The Filippini's

2006-12-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

This year we were home the entire month of December; and with all the snow falling outside, we had lots of time to decorate for the season. I made several wreaths to hang next to the tree and in the hallways:
And another to hang on the front door:
I used cranberries to decorate all around the house:
And even though we didn't get any lights put up outside; with all the snow it still looked quite festive!
Even the tree looked fine once it had some presents underneath:
It was begining to look a lot like Christmas...

The Santa Twins

2006-12-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

Landin had his big performance last Thursday. He played Santa in his school play. But this was an original play, and there wasn’t just one Santa.
The play was called The Santa Twins, and was the story of a classroom that was putting on a Christmas Play where there were two boys who came ready to play Santa. They go through all the reasons why there can only be one Santa, and put it to a class vote to see which one of them will play Santa. They weigh and measure them (they are equally fat and heavy), they test their Ho Ho Ho and Christmas Caroling abilities (equal again), and they go down the list of good deeds each has done this season (a dead tie). So then a telegram arrives from Santa which declares that during the rush of delivering gifts every year Santa sometimes wishes he had a twin to help him out – and thus, The Santa Twins are named. It is agreed that they both will play Santa in the school play since four hands are better than two.Landin and his best friend Mitchell (you might recall they have the same birthday) are naturally competitive in ever area (sports, girls, and everything else) – so when the teacher read this play, she told Mitchell’s mom and I that Landin and Mitchell immediately came to mind. So Nicole and I spent one evening last week sewing two identical Santa cotumes for the boys. They looked adorable, and they nailed their lines. The play was quite good, and Landin’s teacher deserves a nice pat on the back for her creativity in putting together the play when every other class settled for a Christmas carol. We were really proud of Landin and his whole class.

I filmed the play and will post it here as soon as I can figure out how to download it off my video camera (hopefully this week). Until then, you’ll just have to imagine Landin delivering lines like, “I got here first, I know my lines, and I can say them too!” and “My relatives are coming tonight, and if I don’t play Santa Clause they’ll want their money back.” Priceless.

All the kids in the class had great costumes too... here are some pictures:

Landin and his newest lady-friend... and Landin and his buddy who played a clown.

Santa Brice

2006-12-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

Brice was asked this year to play Santa for Landin’s school’s Christmas Programs. They provided him with a costume, and he dressed-up for the part.

At the end of each program (there were two), the principal would tell the audience that they had a special guest; the pianist would start in on “here comes Santa Clause” and Brice would come into the auditorium Ho Ho Ho’ing. Then Santa Brice sat in a chair next to the stage, and the kids lined-up to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Most of the big kids knew it was Brice, but it was pretty cute to see the little ones in awe. Some were scared, but most were really excited to see Santa at their school. Brice handed out candy canes and after all the kids had had their turn, the adults took their’s. Our friend Eric couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap...I even got a kiss on the belly from Santa.Brice changed out of his costume, and came back into the gym where the kids and I were waiting for him. Landin knew what was up, but Ryder was certain that Santa had been there, and that Brice had missed him (Brice was supposedly not feeling well, and was laying down in the Principal’s office during the big visit).

Brice had a great time playing Santa, and it was a nice push in getting into the spirit of Christmas. When we got home, Brice spent some time explaining to Landin how Santa can’t be everywhere at once, and that he had asked Brice to go to Southside in his place so that Brice could report back to the real Santa what the kids said they wanted for Christmas, and who was naughty and who was nice. Landin replied, “Yah, that was nice of you. I bet Santa is super busy making toys since Christmas is only a few more days away. He couldn’t leave the north pole now anyway.”

That’s right son… Santa is a busy man! Ho Ho Ho!!

Landin's Recipe for Turkey

2006-12-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Our local newspaper asked the kids at Landin's school to compile recipes for their holiday celebrations to share with the community; so Landin and his classmates each wrote up their recommended recipes and their teacher submitted them to the paper.

The paper didn't run all of the recipes, but we're figuring that they picked some of the more absurd ones to publish.

We believe this based on the fact that Landin's was selected (see below):
Can I just say for the record, he didn't get his cooking sense from me (wink wink).

Landin's Haircut

2006-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that we've been growing Landin's hair out for some time now... and it got pretty long.

Last week Landin was playing out in the snow and just couldn't seem to keep his hair out of his eyes

His teacher also mentioned that he lets it fall in front of his eyes during class, and had even been biting it (yikes!)

All this added up to us finally telling Landin it was time for a haircut. To our surprise, he was totally up for it. He was ready for change, so we headed to the salon.

Landin picked-out a cut he liked in one of the books, and the stylist started cutting away. She cut, and cut, and cut.

This is the lovely result, which Landin is very happy with! You will note that we also got rid of the faux sideburns that Landin has growing out for more than a year - so much for that!

The Fam was on TV last night...

2006-12-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, the fam and I flew down to San Jose to film some footage for Sony around a new product they were promoting called DVD Direct.

The DVD Direct is a really cool little piece of equipment that allows you to transfer home movies onto DVDs without having to figure out how to plug your video camera into your computer, etc... It's shaped like a giant iPod and is very simple to use.

We played with the DVD Direct, moving all of our old home videos over to nice, easy to store DVDs, and then we filmed our review of the product, along with shots of me using it, the kids watching themselves on TV, and me filming the kids playing soccer with Brice.

Sony has used the footage to promote the product, and last night one of the clips appeared on a Bay Area news station, KRON-4.

You can view the clip here: http://www.kron4.com/global/Category.asp?c=85562

Mazzy's Ho Ho Ho!

2006-12-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Mazlow doesn't talk yet. Yes, he says the normal "mama" and "dada," and says "ball" and "no," but that is about it. He's sharp as a tack though when it comes to communicating what he wants and can follow verbal instructions better than any of our other kids can (we'll see how long that lasts!).

This is all set-up for the fact that even though Mazzy can't really speak yet, he has nailed an important Christmas saying - - "Ho Ho Ho!" If you ask Mazlow what Santa says, he'll give you a boisterous ho ho ho, and sometimes if he sees a Santa or hears us talking about Santa, he'll give us a ho ho ho just to let us know he's paying attention.

Of course, it's harder to get kids to do these kind of "tricks" on demand, but here is what I was able to capture with my digital camera last night:

The Kids Christmas Tree

2006-12-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

The boys have a tree in their bedroom that they got to pick-out and decorate themselves. It's right in the middle of their room on top of their art table.

Here are some pictures: As the kids were decorating the tree Landin convinced Ryder that the better their tree looks, the longer Santa will spend at the house dropping off gifts. Ryder bought it, and was going full bore decorating. They were so cute!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2006-12-14T10:13:00.000-08:00

I've had a number of requests to post some pictures of the sad tree we have up this year, so here it is: I have to say, it's growing on me... and I'm sure it will look even better with lots of presents underneath...

So here is to a wonderful Christmas, and the simple joy of being content with what you have (even if it's skinny and lopsided).

Hunting Christmas Trees

2006-12-12T02:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday afternoon, we bundled up the kids (it was snowing) and trekked down the road a bit to cut down our Christmas tree. With darkness quickly approaching, we were in a bit of a hurry to find a tree - and so in hind sight, maybe we were just a little too rushed to select a good tree...

The kids found the tree they wanted for their room right away. It was the perfect height, had lots of nice greenery, and we light and easy to cut down. Brice and Landin went at the tree with the saw, and after two short pulls the tree was down.
Now if we could just find the tree for downstairs... Humm... after trekking around for what seemed like a really long time, we just couldn't find one. Both Brice and I got frustrated (recipe for tree selection disaster). The kids were losing patience too. Ryder was eating snow with a stick and landin was rolling around in it. Mazlow, thinking we are were crazy for standing out in the cold when there was a perfectly warm car to sit in, toddled through the snow and let himself into the car and sat in his seat waiting for us. So when we passed for the hundredth time a tree that was frail and threadbare, but standing up straight, with easy access from the road, we decided to cut it down and take it home.

When we got home and went to put the tree up Brice just laughed... "we are not putting this thing up in the house." Yes, yes we are... it will look fine once it has some lights and ornaments.

Brice was right, I was wrong. But it's too late to turn back now. We have our little skinny lopsided Charlie Brown Christmas tree fully decorated and in its place in the living room. We are committed.

So if you come over this Christmas to visit, don't laugh... know that we realize how silly our tree looks, and we love it anyway. Merry Christmas!

Southside Dinner Auction

2006-12-12T01:55:00.000-08:00

Landin's Elementary School held it's annual dinner auction last week, and as PTA President, it kept me plenty busy. Luckily I wasn't in charge of the whole thing (a saintly woman named Barb held that honor), but I did get my hands dirty and had a lot of fun!

Part of the tradition of the dinner auction (which we started last year) is that parent volunteers each decorate one table for 8 for folks to sit at for dinner at the auction. This year I decorated a table with a lime green and gold theme. Here are some shots of my table. My girlfriends Nicole, Brenda and I also donated a decorated tree for the auction. We got together some fishing theme ornaments, Brenda sewed an amazing fishing themed tree skirt, and we decorated the tree with gold, Burgundy and the cutest fishing/cabin themed decorations you can imagine. The dinner was fabulous, and a wonderful time was had by all. And best of all, we were able to raise more than $10,000 for the elementary school (which may not sound like a lot to all you Californians, but I assure you, by Idaho standards, that is BANK!)

Lights on the Lake

2006-12-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

Last year, the week after Thanksgiving we discovered a neat event in Couer D'Alene (about 45-minutes from us).

The resort on the lake puts up a million bazillion lights and offers boat trips where you can coast around the lake looking at the lights with the final destination being an island where Santa lives. When the boat pulls up to the island it slows down, and up pop lights which illuminate Santa working in his shop. Santa pulls out a list of names (of the kids on the boat) and goes over the list reading the names aloud (and adding some comedy as he goes). When he got to Ryder and Landin's names he mentioned how much Santa wished they would do a better job cleaning their rooms (SWEET!). The kids are blown away that Santa knows their names and talks to them, and then the show is over and the boat turns back towards shore. We sipped hot chocolate and enjoyed the awesome light show. It is a beautiful trip, and well worth taking the time for if you live in the area.

San Jose State Vs. Idaho Vandals

2006-12-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

Brice and I both graduated from San Jose State; and being student athletes, we both remember how hard it is to travel to compete at another college, with little-to-no fan support. So when we received a postcard in the mail from the SJSU Alumni Organization, letting us know that the SJSU Spartans would be in Idaho playing the Idaho Vandals the weekend of Thanksgiving, we were rearing to go. So we ordered our tickets, and headed to Moscow (Home of the Vandals!) The campus there is lovely, but the drive to get there was not. It snowed nearly the whole way there, so Brice had to drive very slowly and carefully down the 2-lane roads.
The game was a blast though, and the kids were totally in to it. We dressed them in blue and gold (representing of course) and took over a whole section to cheer loud and clear for our Spartans.

The Spartans killed the Vandals, and we went home happy Spartan fans!

Our New Day-After Thanksgiving Tradition...

2006-11-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

This year we started a new Day-After-Thanksgiving Tradition; and this is one tradition I intend to uphold for as long as I possibly can!

First, we slept in. Ahhhhhh.

Then, we got up for a lazy breakfast of toasted bagel breakfast sandwiches with farm fresh eggs (from our chickens), rich cheese, juicy tomatoes, and grilled mushrooms and onions.

After breakfast, Brice, Don, and the kids (so all the boys) headed to the Gym to work out and then swim at the indoor pool.

My mom and I dressed and headed into Coeur D'Alene for a couple hours of Christmas shopping. We hit the stores with the special one-day sale items we wanted; in-and-out, with very little waiting in lines at all.

And then, we drove to the Coeur D'Alene Resort Spa to finish off the day with a round of message, soothing showers, and facial treatments. Ahhhh.... now that's the life.

I had a pregnancy message, designed to focus in on the muscles that are most achy while pregnant. It was heavenly.

Fully relaxed and pampered by the spa treatments, we walked across the street for nice Italian dinner before heading home to rejoin the real world again.

What a lovely tradition though... Thanksgiving might just move into my top holiday spot with a tradition like this to look forward to.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-26T12:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving All! My mom and Don came up to spend Thanksgiving with our family this year, and to help me cook in case I wasn't feeling up to it. Thankfully, I was feeling well on Thanksgiving, and together, my Mom and I cooked-up quite a feast.
We prepared a fabulous roast Turkey, heavenly mashed potatoes, 100-step Green Beans with crispy scallions, Baked Maple Syrup Sweet Potatoes, an incredible onion balsamic gravy, two kinds of homemade cranberry sauces, and 3 pies (a caramel chocolate pecan pie and a traditional pumpkin). And yes, all this food was for 4-adults and 3 kids. Needless to say, we have plenty of leftovers (and multiple recipes to use them up as well).

The kids enjoyed the day playing in the fresh fallen snow, while my Mom and I worked away in the kitchen. I can't think of a more satisfying way to spend the Thanksgiving day!

When it was time to eat, we all sat down at our big table in the dining room (the kids were very excited to get to use their special Thanksgiving linens and dishes).
Even Mazzy joined the table with a big plate of Thanksgiving food!
It was a perfect Thanksgiving, and I couldn't have asked for a better day! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families as well!

Hemlocks Celebrate!

2006-11-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

I posted earlier about Landin's soccer team, The Hemlocks, and their 100-Goal season. This month we celebrated the Hemlocks' incredible achievement with a big pizza party for the kids and their families.

In honor of reaching their team goal of scoring one-hundred goals in a single season, the parents all pitched in and got the kids and coaches T-shirts. I designed the T-Shirts and then had them printed by a local shop here. We even had the kids names put on the sleeves of their shirts. The T-Shirts turned out fabulous, and everyone had such a great time.

Brice was really touched by all the nice things the Hemlock parents had to say about his role in coaching the kids - - especially since he just loves coaching so much. We can't wait for next season!

Halloween 2006

2006-11-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in their Halloween Costumes this year:

Landin was Captain Jack Sparrow (We got his costume at the Pirates of the Caribbean store in Disneyland when we were there last March):

Ryder was STITCH from Disney's Lilo & Stitch:
Mazlow was DUMBO: With all the fun activities, it was a great Halloween for the kids. And even though I wasn't feeling 100% I still got to go trick-or-treating with the kids, and that was a whole lot of fun!

Happy belated Halloween to you all!!

Southside Harvest Carnival 2006

2006-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

(Delayed Post from October 28th)

As PTA President for Landin's Elementary School, I was charged with organizing the school's annual Harvest Carnival - a big Fall celebration complete with a costume contest, a pumpkin carving contest, scarecrow building contests, a Chili and Cornbread cook-off, face painting, temporary tattoos, a cake walk, a sack race, Bingo, a raffle, and a dozen other fun games for the kids. Since I was down for the count the week leading up to the big event, I had to delegate quite a bit of the activity, but I did make it to the event (and managed to bring along a couple of pots of homemade chili and a couple pans of cornbread too).

Here is my Hot and Spicy Chili (secret ingredients: Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, Ground buffalo, and Kokane Beer)
Here is my Sweet Chili (secret Ingredient - Dr. Pepper):Here is my Jalapeno Cornbread:Here is my Sweet Cornbread: My baking didn't take home any prizes, but Brice loved the spicy chili and vowed to eat the entire pot himself if I ever made it again (a personal victory since Brice claims to hate chili and refuses to even try it most of the time I make it).

I took it easy at the event, manning the ticket counter, and sitting on my butt almost the entire time. And since I wasn't feeling up to sporting my Greek Goddess Halloween Costume, I opted for a pair of hospital scrubs instead (much more fitting to my mood)! We had a great turn-out for the carnival, and our kids had a blast! I'm already looking forward to next year's carnival, when we will have FOUR little guys in costume to chase around, and I hope to be feeling up for the challenge!

The Final Soccer Games of the Fall 2006 Season

2006-11-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

(A delayed Post from the weekend of October 28th)

Even though I couldn't be there for all the games, the boys both played wonderfully in the final games of the Fall soccer season. Here in Sandpoint, the season ends with a bang with the kids playing a multi-game tournament to wrap things up. Landin's team had 3 games in the tournament, and Ryder's team had 2. The age division champions for the season were decided based on a tournament point system. (3-points for a win, 1-point for each goal up to three, and 1 point for a shut out).

I stayed home and rested, missing the kids morning games, but made it to the field to sit and watch Ryder's last game (where he almost scored a goal on the right side of the field this time).

The highlight of the whole day for Ryder was receiving his trophy for participation in the season. When they called his name, and handed him his trophy, he couldn't have been more proud. I missed Landin's first game (where I was told he pulled off the "Italian" move - a soccer move he's been practicing all season, and beat 4 kids to the goal with it, and scored). I did see his second and third games, which were incredible - the Hemlocks (Landin's team) played so well together, and nearly every member of the team scored a goal.

During the season the Hemlocks had racked-up quite an impressive number of goals, and about mid-season we started talking about "what if they could score 100 goals in the season?"... so going into the tournament, they needed 22 goals to hit 100 and they had 3-games to do it. The first game they won 9-0. Thirteen more to go. The second game they won 7-1. Six more to go. They scored the first goal of the game and the kids were pumped reminding each other they only needed 5 more goals to hit 100. They scored 3 more and were practically jumping out of their skin. They scored one more and we could feel from the sidelines their intensity on the field. Then Landin booted in the 100th goal, and the kids went crazy! They were falling all over one another, hugging and high-fiving, while the other team had no idea what was going-on (this was an internal goal the kids had that they hadn't shared with anyone else). They were so proud though, to have set that lofty goal and then achieved it as a team - with every single member contributing. It was a sight to see.

The Hemlocks won the tournament, and even got their picture in the paper for the achievement.

In celebration of reaching their goal of 100-goals in a single season, the parents pitched-in and got the kids and coaches T-shirts that say "2006 Hemlocks - 100 Goal Season" with a line of Hemlock trees with a players name beneath each one.

It was really neat to see the kids progress as a team and as individual players this year, and I know Landin and Ryder already can't wait for the Spring season to put back on their cleats and hit the field. Game On!!

Reasons I'm so lame...And you can all say "I told you so"

2006-11-09T21:50:00.000-08:00

I just re-read my last post... I'm so lame. I spoke (wrote) that post too soon. Who the hell did I think I was declaring myself healed? I know I went to college for 6-years, but clearly, I learned about being a spin doctor, NOT a medical doctor.

So the bottom line is I'm back on bedrest, eating my humble pie, and letting Brice (and everyone else who insisted I really needed more rest) say "I told you so." UGH!

So I was feeling great midweek last week, thinking this whole thing was yesterday's news. My mom reminds me now (sarcastically) "oh yes, you had every right to take yourself off of bedrest, after all you were feeling kind of better for what - 2 or 3 whole days, right?" Ok Ok, it sounds absurd to me too now... but at the time it was a completely rational thought (at least for me). [sigh]

I went trick-or-treating on Halloween, I worked from the Starbucks in town and did some house cleaning on Wednesday, I went to my girls night Bunko game on Thursday, and then it hit me. Laying in bed on Thursday night I thought I was going to die again. The same stomach pain, wrenching my gut. So I take some of the pain medication that they gave me when I left the hospital (I'd only taken it twice since I'd been home). That didn't work. I barely slept on Thursday night, then woke up on Friday with what I was pretty sure was strep throat. Back to square one.

I took it easy over the weekend, not even leaving the house, but by Monday, I was still feeling awful. I went back to the doc on Monday night, and got some antibiotics for my throat (which have just now kicked in and its Thursday) and the earache I also picked-up over the weekend. My immune system has gone to hell, and now I'm in catch up mode trying to do whatever I can to get healthy. Yes, everything, including the good 'ol bed rest.

So I've removed pretty much all the activity from my daily routine, and while I'm still working, its really just my brain and finger muscles I'm using as I sit in my jammies in front of my computer, curled-up with a blanket and a cup of herbal tea. It's low-stress, and keeps me from pulling my hair out. The rest of the time, I just rest, and do quite activities like reading every decorating and cooking magazine I've ever saved (and there are a lot of them), or reading books or doing puzzles with the kids. It's all very restful, and peaceful, and I'm doing okay with it.

The docs still haven't identified the exact virus that’s inflicted me, but they say its mono-like in symptoms and duration, and that I should expect it to last at least into December (as a best case scenario assuming I adhere to the whole bedrest thing). And that's the best case. The likely duration is 2-3 months they say. HUH? I'm adjusting to the thought of being sick for a month or more. Hey, give me a break, I've barely gotten used to the idea of Bedrest. Baby steps.

One piece of good news is my mom is coming to cook Thanksgiving here at the house, which will be great, since I surely would have rationalized that as an exception to my bedrest orders (after all it is a national holiday); but with mom here, that won't happen.

The other obviously great news is that Baby Beckham is doing wonderfully, and is growing right on schedule, and moving around and kicking more and more each day. I'm extremely thankful that I can bare the brunt of this pain for both of us. What a relief to not have to worry about his health!

I really appreciate all of the wonderful calls and notes you all have sent checking-in on me, and sending your warm wishes. It's meant a lot to hear from everyone. I looking forward to feeling like my old chatty self, so I can check back in with everyone and catch up on everything I've missed.

In the meantime, I'll try to do a better job of updating the blog as long as its restful to do so, and will gather up the pictures from the last few weeks and get those posted right away. After all, even though I'm sick, for the rest of the family, the show must go on!

Feeling A Lot Better (and what I would have missed if I wasn't)

2006-10-30T22:46:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday, and I'm feeling a lot better after a restful weekend, and some serious pampering (from my hubby and friends).

While I was in the hospital, and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, I kept worrying about all the things I was going to miss out on while I was stuck in bed. On the first day I was in the hospital, I missed Ryder's first singing performance at his preschool. I had planned to go and video tape, but instead, super Dad had to be there for me and him (and tried to take video while keeping Mazlow quite and in one place - not so successfully). I missed Brice's last adult soccer games that Sunday too. On Wednesday, I missed Landin's Cub Scout Rocket Race. We had been working together on his rocket for the past week and a half, so it was a bummer I couldn't be there.

One of the things that made the hospital stay bearable were the visits from my kids (and of course Brice).

Brice brought the boys to say good night to me every night I was there, and often he brought Ryder and Mazlow during the afternoon around lunchtime. They actually really liked the hospital food.One of the times Landin was there to visit me, he left me this message handwritten on the nurses white board in my room: In case the picture is unreadable, it says, "Dear Momy, I hope you feel better. I love you. I miss you, and I want to kiss you . There are four yous, not the letter U. XO OK"

So even though I missed some things that would have been really great, I felt very loved that my boys came and hugged-on me for at least a short time everyday.

If I hadn't started feeling better on Saturday, I would have missed out on the Harvest Carnival that I was chairing for Landin's school PTA, as well as the soccer tournament Ryder and Landin were playing in over the weekend, which would be their last game for several months (more on that later). So the bottom line is, I started feeling better just in time. That's just like life isn't it - everything works out just like on TV - right in time for the commercials.

Bed Rest Is Hard (Day One)

2006-10-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the lessons learned (and that there were several of them) from my stomach pain saga thus far. The one the Dr. wanted me to learn as she sent me home on Wednesday was the importance of rest in our lives - of taking a break, before we NEED it. She reminded me that if you just keep pushing, and going, going, going, without taking the break that you need to stay healthy and sane; then life will hit you over the head with something that forces you to take that break (usually at the most inopportune time - not that there is an opportune time to be hit over the head with anything).

So at any rate, here I am, absorbing the lesson that life is teaching me - Take the time to REST!

But can I just say, as much as rest is wonderful and peaceful and feels good - its stressful to be forced to physically rest, when your mind is still going a hundred miles an hour and there is just SO MUCH that needs to get done!

Why can't bed rest be scheduled and conducted on a tropical island in the summer sun? The answer of course, it that that is what we call - "vacation"... however, at least in my world, vacations are seldom restful times of total relaxation; and more often are busy whirlwind trips where we rush around trying to fit a million experiences into our slim time away from home. What I usually end up needing is a vacation from my vacation. [10-days at Disneyland, our last "vacation" is a case in point]

I've had several conversations with friends the past few days where I have admitted that it would be much easier to be on bed rest if I knew it was my baby's health at risk, and not my own... crazy huh? But I bet any mother or mother-to-be would agree. You worry more about the health of your children then your own health (10-fold probably), and that's just not healthy at all.

My Mom keeps beating into my head the fact that if I don't rest my condition will only get worse, and could land me back in the hospital. I don't want that, and yet I find myself thinking up ways to challenge the system, to walk the fine line of bed rest and exertion - - like typing this blog post from my bed (resting yet working, right??).

I tried the whole "do nothing at all, just lie there" thing this morning... It was weird. In the silence of it all, I heard some really strange noises. Do you know that cats can grind their teeth? They can. Mine does. It sounds freaky. Also there is a bird here that's call sounds exactly like the sound my SKYPE makes when a call is coming in. Everytime I heard it today I jumped, thinking someone was ringing me on Skype. My computer makes a strange humming noise when it gets hot and then as it cools down the humming changes into a low buzz that if you listen to long enough, can start to sound like you're underwater. It was windy today too, so you can imagine all the interesting sounds the wind makes blowing up against the house and through the trees. A whole lot of sounds, that while restful, were strangely unsettling, and made me want to DO SOMETHING.

In the end I opted for organizing (from my bed of course). I typed up our family's schedule for Friday - Sunday (boy do we have a lot going on!), and typed up a grocery list for Brice (sorted by aisle of the store of course), and by then, I was ready to, well... rest.

Melissa’s Painful Hospital Saga (All the details)

2006-10-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I was admitted to the hospital on Saturday night, following a day fretted with extreme stomach pain which robbed me of having fun at Landin and Ryder’s soccer games in the morning, Tawnya’s Baby Shower in the afternoon, and Jennifer and Jason’s Costume Party that night. After driving home from the Halloween party I laid in bed for several hours trying to make the pain stop so I could get some much needed rest. But it wouldn’t stop – It just kept getting worse.

Those of you who know me well know my high tolerance for pain. I’ve given birth to 3 children without any pain medication whatsoever – but this, I couldn’t handle. I tried getting comfortable; I couldn’t. I tried breathing through the pain; I couldn’t. The hardest part about the pain was that it was constant. Never let up. With contractions, at least you know there is a break coming after a few minutes. This was just steady pain; with no break; no rest for the weary. I was worried about the baby, but was convinced that this was just a passing stomach ache, normal with pregnancy. At 12:30am I decided I was wrong. This wasn’t normal pain.

I called my OB and filled her in on my pain. She recommended I go straight to the Emergency Room. I already had on my PJs so I hobbled down to the car, and drove to the ER in town.

When I opened the door to the ER I was practically doubled-over in pain. The nurse was expecting me (a call from my OB had her ready and waiting for me) so she took my hand and led me straight to a room where they laid me down and got out the equipment to listen to the baby. I explained what I was feeling and answered their questions. They found the baby’s heartbeat right away, and it sounded great – a HUGE relief. The next order of business was relieving the pain (thankfully). Hey hit me with 6mg of Morphine, which removed the pain, and relaxed my muscles for the first time in more than 24-hours. They poked me to assess whether or not it was my appendix that was causing the pain. Hard to tell. They took me in for an in-depth ultrasound (3-hours) examining the baby and all my major organs.

One of the big concerns was that I fell down the stairs 10-days prior and had been in the Dr.’s office following the fall to check on the baby. Baby was fine, so they sent me home. What they were worried about now was the possibility that I had damaged an internal organ in the fall – and that it was just now manifesting itself. By 5am, the morphine was wearing off and the pain was coming back. The ultrasound results came back and showed that all my organs looked as they should, and that baby was happy and healthy wiggling around actively.

Without knowing what was wrong, but sure there was something abnormal going on, they checked me into the hospital for the night. One more dose of Morphine, and I was off to sleep for a few hours.

I woke-up starving (the extreme stomach pain had masked any hunger pains, and made me too nauseated to eat the day prior) but still feeling the ache in my tummy. I felt reassured that baby was okay, but frustrated that we were no closer to knowing what was causing the pain.

They ran a series of blood tests and we watched and waited, trying to see what would happen next. My blood work came back looking perfect – I was as healthy as a horse. With left us with a couple of options – The wait and see (while I withered in pain); another more specific Sonogram; the MRI (an imaging test using magnets that has no known side effects for baby, but could show the appendix and other organs in more detail than the ultrasound), the CAT scan (not a viable option given the danger of radiation to the baby) or a laparoscopy (a surgical procedure where they blow up the belly with gas, go in with a light and a camera and look at the appendix and other organs, and then conduct surgery to remove the appendix if necessary).

That night (Sunday) while I lay in bed in pain, I took a red pen out of my purse and with my eyes closed I used the pen to circle on my skin the spot where the pain was the most pronounced. I had been trying to pinpoint it all day but when I sat up and tried to double over to look underneath my growing pregnant belly at the spot, it would shift and I would feel the pain more broadly from being bent over. The next morning I showed the nurses the spot and explained that was where the pain was centered. The spot I had circled was right around where my appendix would be.

So on Monday morning, they opted for a second in-depth ultrasound/sonogram focusing on the appendix and the baby, and looking for any abnormalities. The ultrasound went well, baby looked wonderful, but they were not able to see my appendix in the images. This was reassuring, as they would expect that if it was inflamed it would show-up… but it wasn’t, so it didn’t. I was wheeled back to my hospital room, in even more pain after being poked and prodded again, and with no new information to speak of.

One of the other serious symptoms I was experiencing was extreme fatigue and shortness of breath. I would get tired getting up to go to the restroom, and would be short of breath just sitting up to eat.

The Morphine had made me nauseated that morning so on Monday night, we tried switching to a different pain medication that afternoon to allow me to sleep. They gave me a Vicoden equivalent, which didn’t seem to work, and I had a fitful couple of hours in and out of sleep marred by sharp pain and aches. The last conversation I had with the Dr. on Monday late in the evening revealed they were baffled, but that they were leaning towards the laparoscopy (surgery) option. This freaked me out because it meant full sedation (and if I’m knocked out, so is baby). I wasn’t excited about this option.

I woke on Tuesday morning feeling a little better. They had switched me over to a different pain med late in the night, and I finished off the night into the early morning with a good solid rest. The Dr. was encouraged by my feeling better, but I wasn’t 100% by any stretch, and we were all still eager to figure out what was going on. One of the most interesting developments on Tuesday, was that my pain had really shifted to the other side of my stomach and underneath my belly, which would be inconsistent with appendicitis. Given this, and the fact that I was rested enough by Tuesday to cope with the pain better, they put off the thought of surgery and opted for the MRI.

I went in on Tuesday afternoon for the MRI, which took around 2 ½ hours to do. I had to lay flat on my back, perfectly still, the entire time. It was really hot, super uncomfortable, and exaggerated the pain I was trying so hard to cope with already without pain medicine. When I got back to my room following the MRI, I was knocked out, sore, and ready for sleep. I was still hopeful I would go home that night, and was trying my best to get through to the end of the day without pain meds. I waited until after 6pm to get the MRI results. When my Dr. finally came to discuss the results I was curled up in a ball on the bed, ready for pain medication. One of the lessons I’ve learned through this process (there are many) is that it’s not a sign of personal weakness to ask for pain relief. I was in a lot of pain (still am) and the pain medication is not doing anything but helping me to cope with it. Still…. UG!

So my Dr. tells explains that the MRI results showed that my appendix looked normal (as far as they could see). What looked abnormal was my intestines. Based on the images from the MRI it appeared that my intestines weren’t functioning correctly, and were tweaked in several spots where there were pockets of gas and solids build-up. Based on my blood test that morning, which showed an abnormally low white blood cell count, they believed that I had a virus that was attacking my intestinal track. This would explain how the pain had moved around my belly, my fatigue level and shortness of breath, and the extreme pain I was feeling. They likened the virus to the Mono virus that we are all pretty familiar with (note: I do NOT have mono), but what I have is similar in that its sucked all my energy dry and made me feel listless and always out of breath. On top of the exhaustion, my lame virus added a gnarly pain element to the mix – lucky me. Adding mayhem to misery, apparently there are lymph nodes or adenoids located in the mesenteric layer of the bowel, just like we have in our neck, that become swollen when your body is infected with a virus. Mine were swollen, and were also adding to the pain I was experiencing (as if I needed yet another pain causing ailment). They call this Mesenteric Adenitis.

So in a nutshell, I’m facing a rare intestine-attacking virus, coupled with Mesenteric Adenitis.

They are running more tests to see if they can pin down the strain of the virus, and most importantly ensure that it is not a virus known to cause any harm to an unborn fetus.

I’ve was sent home today (Wednesday), and put on strict bedrest. Keep in mind that you cannot kill a virus with antibiotics (they are only able to attack bacteria), so the only course of action is to let the virus run its course – while treating the symptoms. So I am on bedrest for at least the next 2-weeks (and for what could be a month or more) until the virus is gone and with it go my pain and fatigue.

You all know how hard bedrest will be for a person like me. What the #@%*!

And poor Brice. The man is a Saint. He brought the kids to visit me everyday in the hospital, got them all off to school and their various activities each day, and is still holding down the fort. Now he is stuck with me at home, unable to help with the kids, or cook, or clean, or run errands… and he’s taken it all with the grace of a saint. He deserves better. When I’m all better and this is all behind us, I’ll take him somewhere nice to let him know how very much I appreciate all that he does, and how wonderful it is to have someone like him I can count on for EVERYTHING.

In the meantime, I need to rest

Costume Party - Halloween 2006

2006-10-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our friends Jennifer and Jason hosted an adults-only Halloween Costume Party on Saturday, so Brice and I suited-up and headed-out to party.

Brice was Hercules this year, and I was Venus - The Goddess of Love (knocked-up by Hercules)... I was still feeling awful on Saturday evening, but couldn't miss the big party - - I knew Jenn had worked really hard getting the house decorated scary and all the spooky food ready, so I just couldn't miss it! We shared a babysitter with Eric and Nicole and headed off to the party.

It was so great to see everybody dressed-up! Jennifer was a gorgeous witch and Jason was a sexually provocative catholic priest (sorry no photos - boo hoo).

Eric was dressed up as a "cereal killer" and Nicole was masquerading as "Static Cling" (Clearly they are the most creative of our bunch)... Tawnya (my pregnant buddy) was a lovely Mardi Gras mama, while her husband Adam was an amazingly convincing Frankenstein. The more pumpkin beers Brice and the boys drank, the more "Hercules" was teased about looking more like a gay biker - - or "gay-diator" (especially with the facial hair configuration he had shaved especially for the costume). Even with the teasing of Brice and my stomach pain that relegated me to a chair by the fire for the night, it was a fabulous party and a good time was had by all! Thanks Jennifer and Jason!!

A baby shower for Tawnya

2006-10-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend Tawnya is due to bring her 4th baby into the world this month, so some friends threw her a lovely baby shower this past Saturday.

My friend Kris and I went in together on the gift, and wanted to get Tawnya something special; but all she really wanted were baby clothes and some basics (diapers, wipes, etc)... So we came up with a way to deliver the basics in a special way. I got a giant shallow wicker laundry basket, cut two pieces of wood about 3 feet long and tied one to each side of the basket. Then I took a piece of grossgrain ribbon and I strung it across the two pieces of wood - creating a "clothes line." I bought a bag of wooden clothes pins and painted them pink and tan (to coordinate with the outfits I picked-up for the new baby girl). Using the decorative clothes pins, I strung 3-pairs of footed PJs across the clothes line. I bought a huge container of Baby-clothes laundry detergent, and stuck that in the middle of the basket. I filled the rest of the basket with pink tissue and then laid out the two other outfits we got Tawnya over the tissue. I added a few accessories (a cute pink bib, a coordinating hat, a pair of pink slipper cowgirl boots, and a pair of fuzzy pink moccasins) to finish off the basket. The final touch was a giant pink bow tying the plastic wrapping together. It was an awesome baby shower (the food by prepared by Brenda Woodward was AMAZING!), and I think Tawnya had a great time. I was feeling pretty sick at the shower, but I curled-up on a comphy chair with a glass of mulled cider, which made me feel a bit better. I was glad I was able to be there for the special event, and was really happy that Tawnya loved the extra-special presentation of her "just the basics" gift.

Soccer Dads

2006-10-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

At this weekend's soccer game the soccer dads proved they were just as stylish as their soccer mom counterparts - arriving at the game in coordinating navy blue long sleeve shirts. Who says North Idaho guys only wear flannel shirts? These dads are truly stylin!

Soccer Moms

2006-10-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Totally by coincidence, four of us soccer moms showed up at the kids game on Saturday wearing jeans and brown & green tops - - completely coordinated.We looked like a friggin' GAP commercial sitting together on the sidelines. It's a nice problem to have though - all these stylish moms in one place - so no complaints here!

Making Halloween Cookies

2006-10-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

To get ourselves into the Halloween spirit we decorated the house and cleared off the island in the kitchen to make some Halloween cookies. The kids donned their aprons (Ryder wore one that belonged to my grandmother, and Landin wore my Starbucks apron), we floured the island, whipped up some sugar cookie dough, and set to work. Landin picked a skeleton cookie cutter for his cookies, and Ryder picked a spider web. I helped both the boys roll out their dough with a rolling pin (Note to other parents - A rolling pin can be used as a weapon, which your kids will figure out as soon as they pick it up - Be aware... or maybe that's just my kids!)

The kids and I had a blast rolling the dough, cutting out the cookies, and baking them. By the time the cookies were cooled and ready to be frosted, football was on, so I lost my little bakers to TV land where they would rather cheer and yell at the TV then frost cookies they know they won't get to eat. So I frosted them myself, and after dinner the kids were allowed to have one each. A sweet reward for their hard work.

The next day we packaged up the cookies and distributed them to neighbors, teachers, aides, and friends. YUM!

"Killer Boots, Man"

2006-10-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

(That's from Dumb and Dumber for all you non-Dumb and Dumber fans)

Mazzy is the one with the killer boots. We went shopping last weekend to get him some winterish shoes, and came across these great boots at Baby GAP. He LOVES them. He can say "Boots" and asks for them by name. He sits down and takes them off so he can put them back on himself (very independent this one is).

At any rate, they are rockin new boots, and they perfectly complete the "rebel without a clue" look he has going.

Fall in Sandpoint

2006-10-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

Fall has arrived (okay, okay, it's been here for a bit, but I'm in denial). But it's really here now.

This week Landin disappeared from the kitchen where he was supposed to be working on his homework while I was cooking dinner. I looked all over the house for him, and was calling his name repeatably, when I heard the sound of his laugh coming from outside. Mind you, it's freezing cold outside (at least I think it is). I walk over to the window and look outside to see Landin jumping on the trampoline - BAREFOOT!

I knock on the window and tell him he should be wearing shoes and to get back inside. He replies, "I don't need shoes, I'm wearing a beanie." As in a fuzzy hat, on his head. What that has to do with his feet I have no idea. But then he screams, "Watch this!" and throws the football as hard as he can way up into the sky and the jumps up and lays back to bounce on his back and catch the football. KIDS! I have to say, he looked darn cute out there jumping barefoot in the freezing cold - his cheeks all flushed from the cold wind.

Reminded me of Brice, a lot.

GOOOAAAAALLLL By RYDER!!

2006-10-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

You've read of Ryder's infamous first soccer season several times on this blog already - - and here's one more for the record books...

Ryder, the same kid whose feet were glued to the ground last week during the soccer game, decided this past week to actually run during the game, and at least try to touch the ball. Low and behold - - Ryder was in there, kicking the ball, chasing after it, and running into kids. Next thing you know - BAM - the ball is rolling off Ryder's foot and into the goal. GOOOOAAALLLL!

Nevermind that it was his own teams' goal. Nevermind that he shot the ball at one of his best girlfriends who was playing goalie for his own team. No, nevermind those things. Ryder scored a goal. His foot kicked a ball that went into a goal - fair and square... And for that, we are so proud of him.

When Ryder was feeling bad about scoring on his own team, we reminded him that Landin's very first goal was scored on his own team as well - and look at him now. We rationalized with Ryder (our thinker) that now he knew how to score a goal, and next time, he would be able to do into the other teams net. He thought that made good sense, and instead of being sad, started to celebrate his goal. He wanted to call his grandparents and tell them all about his goal he scored. And whenever the phone rang, he insisted we tell whomever it was that he had scored a goal (a bunch of telemarketers expressed their excitement for Ryder).

The nicest part was that his team didn't hold it against him either. In fact, they celebrated right along with him. His teammate Ainsley was so proud of him she posed for this picture with him, holding his hand - and for that one moment in time - Ryder was a Soccer Champion!

Operation 8th Birthday Party: The Cake

2006-10-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

In proper tradition of our family birthday cakes, Landin and Mitchell had a full-blown special forces cake and then some.

The best part about these from scratch cakes is how much better they taste then a store bought cake... Plus, there is no chance that your kid's name will be misspelled on it! After we go back from the scavenger hunt, the soldiers lined up at the table inside to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mitchell and Landin and enjoy some yummy cake! The birthday boys made a wish, and blew the candles out!

Operation 8th Birthday Party: Scavenger Hunt

2006-10-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Following lunch in the mess hall, the soldiers were presented with their top secret mission for the day - To find their desert!

Nicole prepared an awesome scavenger hunt with pictures as clues that had been cut into puzzle pieces for the kids to assemble. The first location they were challenged to find was the Tire Swing (which was just a hop away from where they were eating lunch).

From there it would get more and more difficult.

The second clue led them to the end of the long driveway that leads to our house from the road, the kids hopped on their bikes (All 16 of them) and headed off!The next four clues took the kids on their bikes closer and closer to Nicole's house, where they found the last clue...

The last clue wasn't another puzzle like the others. Instead, it ensured that each and every one of the kids participated in the solving process. When the kids registered at the beginning of the party Nicole and I wrote a number and a letter on their shoulder. When they got the last clue, it was just a puzzle with numbers. Using the codes on their shoulders, they had to figure out which letters went with which numbers and then plug them into the puzzle to spell out the final location of the prize. The kids were marvelous at solving the puzzle, and before too long had spelled out "Go Directly To The Tree House" and were off and running to the tree house to collect their treats. Awaiting them in the tree house were army canteens for the ride home, and a box of "muddy bears" (chocolate covered gummy bears).

This was a great activity for the kids and a super example of what these kids are capable of if given the room to roam.

Operation 8th Birthday Party: The Mess Hall

2006-10-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

With all that activity, the kids built-up some hearty appetites, so it was a good thing Nicole and I were prepared with a fully stocked Mess Hall.

Earlier that morning Nicole and I scouted out the perfect spot for the Mess Hall, agreeing upon a flatish spot nestled in the trees near our tire swing. Nicole climbed a few trees, we hoisted the ropes up, and voila the Mess Hall was built! Here is what it looked like before the soldiers arrived:

And here it is filled with hungry soldiers!

On the menu for the day were grilled hamburgers, chips, and some star-shaped lime jello. YUM!

Operation 8th Birthday Party: Obstacle Course

2006-10-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

The last game before lunch was a timed run through the Obstacle Course we built for the kids.

Nicole, Brice and I assembled the Obstacle Course that morning, to ensure our own kids did not have an unfair advantage (by practicing before the rest of the kids saw it)... so when we turned the corner to see the obstacle course, it was the first time any of the kids had seen it.

Given that, they took to it like fishes to water.
Here is how the Obstacle Course was set-up:

1. QUICK FEET: First, the kids would have to move their feet quickly in and out of crisscrossing ropes that covered a 5x5 foot square 2. UP & OVER: Second, the kids would have to climb up a slippery wall of wood and slide down the other side 3. UNDER THE RADAR: Third, the kids would have to crawl on their bellies under a camouflage netting 4. WEAVING IN & OUT: Forth, the kids would weave in and out of 5 poles in the ground as they ran closer to the finish line 5. ROLL THE SPARE TIRE: And last, the kids would have to pick up an big old tire and role it along as they ran to the finish line The kids were seriously AWESOME at the obstacle course, every single one of them. We timed them completing the course, and upon crossing the finish line each of them received a cool working digital army watch. Which again, removed all points of contention around the fastest time and whose it was.

Operation 8th Birthday Party: Tug-O-War

2006-10-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

The second game at the party was a Tug-O-War.

We lined up the boys tallest to shortest and divided them up as evenly as possible into two teams.

We lined them up on either side of a long rope, tied a bandana in the middle and marked off the point not to cross on the ground with a big pile of rocks.

Ready, Set, TUG!

The kids put some serious blood, sweat, and tears (literally I might add) into this Tug-O-War, so it was a shame there had to be a winner and a loser. For the most part they were good sports though, and I was proud to see how hard they were trying.

Each of the kids received a cool wristband for their efforts, which seemed to waylay all complaints. Off to the next game!

Operation 8th Birthday Party: The 8-Legged Race

2006-10-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

To build the concept of teamwork the first game at the party was an 8-legged race. Using two sets of 2x4's, Brice and I created the race mechanisms by drilling sections of webbing onto the boards where the kids feet would slide in, enabling 4-kids to be strapped to the 2x4's at once - and forcing them to work as a team to get moving across the finish line.This would have been an awesome team-building exercise, had it not been for the fact that the webbing kept popping off the 2x4's (Note to self: next time use washers!) At any rate, the kids had fun, and Nicole and I were resourceful, transforming this game mid-way into a 3-legged race by using their bandanas to tie their feet together.

Operation 8th Birthday Party: Sergeant Brice

2006-10-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

After all out soldiers were registered they were introduced to their drill sergeant, Sergeant Colonel Captain Lieutenant Brice (but we'll just call him sergeant for short).

The Sergeant lined-up the soldiers and gave them their marching orders.

He told them they would be undergoing a strict training exercise and anyone who mouthed-off would be doing push-ups. Any guesses on who the first to mouth-off was?? Yep - Birthday Boy Landin.
Here he is dropping down for his 15 push-ups counted out loud by the whole group.

The Sergeant had the boys marching and chanting and working hardand running and sweating
and following his every command. At one point they sang this song, which I captured on tape:

This song had us all in stitches laughing our heads-off.... the first time we heard it. Then the kids kept singing it, and singing it, and singing, well into the next day. Ug!

Operation 8th Birthday Party: REGISTRATION

2006-10-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

So as the soldiers arrived at the party they hustled over to the registration table to get their Dog Tags, a Camo bandana, and to have their face painted with camo paint.

The coolest thing was that most of the kids came all decked out in camo already, so the dog tags, bandana, and face paint was the just the perfect finishing touch. Even Mazzy was decked out in camo, although he skipped the face paint... Not Ryder though... nah, when it comes to Ryder, where there is paint, he is all over it (or actually vice versa) Even Nicole and I were fully camouflaged out.

And then of course there were the birthday boys - Here are Landin and Mitchell showing off their camo gear as they tackle one another on the trampoline.

So with 16-boys dressed-up and rearing to go, the party was off to a running start!