A Silver

It's just a game...It's just a game...It's just a game...

USA was soooooooo close to winning. When I saw Zach Parise score, tying the game 2-2 with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, I thought we'd win. Then Canada's star player, Crosby, scored in overtime, crushing the hopes and dreams of many Americans. James was so upset that he banned Crosby's name to be uttered in our home. He refers to him as the "C word".

My heart went out to Miller, the USA goalie, as I watched him kneel beside the net refusing any consolation from his fellow team mates. My heart went out to the entire team as they hung their heads down to except the silver medal. Anyone watching could feel their defeat.

But, life goes on. I'm sure that Canadian names like Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, and Boyl in time will be spoken in our home with respect instead of with disdain. If not, than this is going to be a short hockey season.

Darkhorse

When you first step inside our home, you immediately know that boys live here. The coat rack is adorned with hockey sticks, helmets, and baseball caps. The left side of our computer/work area is covered with RC cars, helicopters, and controllers. Shoes of all sorts scatter the floor; sneakers, basketball shoes, flip flops. In the family room, our big screen TV is almost always turned on to the sports stations. Hockey, basketball, or football is the choice of our household, depending on the time of year it is. Stinky duffel bags filled with hockey gear find their way inside the house as well (even though I remind the boys every week to put it in the garage).
If you look really close, you might be able to see a feminine touch scattered here and there. Drapes decorate the windows, pictures are hanging on the walls, and a tablecloth covers the table. But that's about it. I have applied the saying, "If you can't beat them, join them" quite literally. It's not hard to do though. I love sports. Football and ice hockey are my favorites to watch. They are fast moving and full of action and excitement. Call me a barbarian if you want, but I even enjoy watching the fights that occur during every hockey game.
A week ago, on what was called Super Sunday, the US hockey team beat the Canadians in the Olympics for the first time in 50 years. We were on our feet for most of the game screaming and cheering our team on. At times it felt weird rooting against some of Team Canada's players like, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle, and Dany Heatley, who all play for the San Jose Sharks. But we are first and foremost Americans.
This afternoon we get to watch the gold medal round between USA and Canada. Going into the Olympics, no one expected the US to medal. They weren't a favorite. It was predicted that fifth place was the best they could do. The nicest term anyone used to describe the USA hockey team was "darkhorse".
Surprisingly, the Americans have been the dominant team in the hockey tournament. They’ve never lost and never trailed. These aren’t even the 23 best American players. These are the 23 American players Burke believed would make the best team. This isn’t an all-star team. This is just a team.
Will we see another Miracle on Ice? I hope so. After church, we are all putting on red, white, and blue to cheer USA on.

Arrow of Light

Yesterday night, our family attended the Blue and Gold Banquet where Steven received his Arrow of Light. Earning the Arrow of Light is a huge achievement! Cub Scouts spend years working on achievements and activities.

Over the past 2 years we have seen a few Arrow of Light ceremonies in this area and have been disappointed. Especially when we have Justin and James' ceremonies to compare it to. Both of theirs were held outdoors around a campfire with the Boy Scout council performing an unforgettable program. James had a really memorable experience. His Webelos Den Leader brought his fire truck and had the boys "cross over" in the cherry picker.

Steven's special moment lasted only seconds. He walked across the bridge where his 11 year old scout leader gave him a Boy Scout book and that was it. Done. Over.

Oh well. I am so proud of Steven for finishing Cub Scouts. He's been attending Boy Scouts for the past 2 months and is loving it.

David holding a tired Dave-o...Me working on a word search.

Kirsten escaping through the hole in the back of the chair. Dave-o loves taking the boys' caps off their heads.

Justin chilling.

Nine Months

Dave-o has now spent the same amount of time in our world as he did in the womb.
It's amazing to see how quickly he has adjusted to our life and visa-versa.

Dave-o loves waving hello and good-bye. Last Sunday, most of the congregation witnessed or heard about him standing up on one of his servant's lap leading the ward choir from the comfort of our pew.

He's still a toothless beaver.

He likes to suck on his upper lip (especially when there's snot running down his nose).

He still uses his taste senses to learn about his world. After hundreds of leaf samples, Dave-o has finally concluded that they are gross.

He crawls quick now and has learned how to climb the stairs. Dave-o loves crawling around outside.

He can pull himself up and walk while holding on to the furniture.

He hates baby food, but loves our food. So, we end up putting most of what we eat in the blender. Bananas are his favorite.

No Regrets

In the middle of the day, the kids and I made a quick run to Walgreens. Dave-o has a very stuffy nose and I was desperate for some saline mist. On our way to the check out counter, a lady stopped me and asked,

"Do you homeschool your children?"
"Yes."
"You will never regret homeschooling them?"
"Do you homeschool your children?"
"I did with my son and now he homeschools his children."
"That's great"
"You'll never regret it. Remember that. Especially on days that are so bad you want to quit. You'll never regret it."

Her words of encouragement and approval were such a boost. It's not often that I hear positive statements with regards to homeschooling. Usually people are questionable or in awe that it is even possible. I love having my children home with me. I love teaching them and learning right along side of them. I know I will never regret it.

On a side note...I made an appointment to get my hair cut for next Wednesday. I can't wait!!! I wish it were sooner.

Taking a Stand

With Dave-o's newly found independence, frustration often occurs (in both child and parent). Shortly after he began to crawl, Dave-o discovered how to pull himself up to a standing position. In fact, just yesterday, he began to walk while holding on to the furniture.

These new "skills" have made nap times very hard. I used to be able to lay Dave-o down and he'd fall asleep within 10 minutes. Now, he'll stand at his crib railing and scream bloody murder at the top of his lungs. I go in, lay Dave-o back down, leave, and seconds later he is back to his post. This little game goes on until one of us surrenders. I vaguely remember doing this with the other kids, but can't recall how long the phase lasted. I hope not too long.

GO to SLEEP Dave-o!

My New Niece

Saturday morning my sister, Deborah, gave birth to a baby girl. She and her husband, Thavee, named her Leeah. The "Lee" is my middle name and the "ah" is taken from the ending in Deborah's name. Pretty clever. Leeah weighed 7 lb 2 oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long. I have yet to see pictures of this little girl, but Deborah has informed me that Leeah looks a lot like Kamea did.

I guess I better get busy on finishing my gifts for Leeah.

Here's a little peek at what I'm working on.

Dog Sitting

Buster....

Meet our family.

While Michael and his family are at Disneyland, we get to watch their dog, Buster. He's been with us since Thursday. The kids are having so much fun taking care of him. They are secretly hoping that when Uncle Michael comes back, he'll decide he doesn't want Buster any more and will leave him here to stay forever. I have to say that Buster is an easy dog to take care of. He's well trained and is able to put up with the harassment that the kids (mainly Dave-o) gives him. He has quickly learned to keep away from Dave-o as he loves pulling on Buster's hair. Good thing for him that Dave-o doesn't crawl fast.

Staying Put

The kid's week long vacation is half over already! At the start of it, I asked them what they wanted to do with their time off. Their reply was, "Let's just stay home." I'm glad they enjoy being home, but I get restless easily. I'm ready to explore San Jose, but I would have a mutiny to deal with if I catered to my spur of the moment whims.

So, home it is. We have been staying up late watching the Winter Olympics and surprisingly waking up early (7am). On school days, I have a hard time getting them out of bed, but during day offs, I can't get them to sleep in. Does anyone else have this problem?

Dave-o found joy watching his siblings; taking mental notes on everything.

We discovered nests in our tree. Spring is near.

Steven and James have spent days whittling sticks magically turning them into weapons. Don't worry, they both have earned the right to use a pocket knife. Steven and James also went to the movie theater to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians:The Lightning Thief". They LOVED it!

They've also spent many hours playing street hockey and air soft gun wars. (Justin's the goalie)

Kirsten has spent her time playing with Fiona. They ride scooters and bikes, have tea parties with their stuffed animals, and were even recruted as spies for the boys' war games.

Gangster Boy

"Gangster Boy"

This is what the boys call Dave-o when we put on his beanie hospital hat.

The hat fit a little differently 8 months ago.
Where has the time gone?
Where has my newborn gone?

The Hero

The Hero
By Steven Zinn

The bursting of fire!
Standing is the Sire.
The dragon in rage,
Wrapped up in a cage!

It will brake for it's master
And spread disaster!
With a goblet in it's hand
That's wrapped in a band.

The hero says, "Be gone!"
The hero slays the dragon.
The goblet is safe,
Wrapped in a band of the cape.
The Sire is gone!
The freedom is at dawn.

The Red Planet

Last week James, Steven, and Kirsten studied the planet Mars. They did an experiment to compare Mar's volcano, Olympus Mons (the biggest in our Solar System) to the Earth's biggest volcano, Mauna Kea. They read about the iron compounds found in the Marian soil that has rusted, turning Mars into the Red Planet. And they built their own version of a space probe, equipped with cameras, antennas, and solar panels.

This is Steven's. His solar panels can open up to collect data.

Kirsten's design has a unique water collecting feature on the left side.

And James' land rover can move.

The highlight of our Martian exploration was seeing the planet with our own eyes. Mar's unmistakable reddish glow is hard to miss in the southwestern night sky right now.

Beachbumbs

I should be getting ready for bed, but first I HAVE to write about our fun day in Santa Cruz. Earlier in the week, we learned that the waves were expected to be huge this weekend (between 20 and 40 feet). There was even a surfing competition going on in Mavericks. So, we jumped in the car to check out the waves and surfers.

First we went to Natural Bridges. We were hoping to see the Monarch Butterflies, but found out that they had migrated already (a couple of weeks sooner that usual). We spent a couple of hours playing on the beach. Even at low tide the waves were dangerously high. There wasn't much sand available for us beachcombers.

The rough surf left behind a lot of foam.

Dave-o's first taste of sand. He didn't seem to mind it too much.

*******************************************************************************

After getting our fill of the beach, we drove a little ways to Steamer Lane. We perched ourselves on some boulders to watch the surfers. After feeling ourselves getting sunburned, we headed home.

I know California has a lot of problems, but I love living here. I love being half an hour from the beach, two and a half hours from the snow, and having mountains to look at everyday.

Bracing Disappointment

Justin began his orthodontic visits today. Spacers were put in and the braces were attached. In a couple of weeks, the wires will be added. Justin is unhappy about this change. He has informed me many times that he doesn't want braces and should have the free agency to wait until he's an adult to have this done. I told him that he should take advantage of getting it done now because when he's an adult, he'll have to pay for it. Justin replied that he's okay with that. He has also refused pictures to be taken of his new smile and used on my blog. So, you'll just have to trust me when I say that Justin looks awesome in braces! Different...But awesome! I hope he'll be able to see that for himself soon.

I was going to take the kids to Moffet Field Nasa Museum, but the dentist appointment went longer than I had anticipated. I also found out that the museum closes at 2pm. So, instead we went to Guadalupe River Park, which is located across the street from the "Shark Tank" (A.K.A. the HP Pavilion). I recently picked up a Bay Area Parent magazine (they're free). The title for this issue was "Your On-the-Go Guide to the Bay Area". It is full of wonderful ideas for things to do and see. I decided that it would be fun to explore one of the places mentioned in the magazine once a week.
Our first outing was a bit of a disappointment.
There were signs everywhere that said,
"No roller blades" (Steven brought his roller blades)
"No skateboards" (James brought his ripstick; which would be considered a skateboard)
No this and No that. Kirsten was able to ride her scooter though.
The playground was small. It didn't even have any baby swings for Dave-o.
The carousel that I read about was closed. It looked like it had been closed down for years.

The kids still had fun though. They outlined an obstacle course through the rope climbing part of the playground which kept them occupied for a while.

They also enjoyed entertaining Dave-o by taking him down the slides and introducing him to the rope jungle.

On the ride home, the kids unanimously voted to never return to this park again.

Hopefully we'll have better luck next time.