Thursday, December 31, 2009

Christmas in NC

Accommodating


Impatience


Intolerance


That's it...WE'RE DONE!!

Christmas was a riot this year. We spent it with Jay's sister Emily and her boys in North Carolina. Rarely was the house not shaking. The noise was taken to another level. Add Wii and you have a potentially dangerous situation. Luckily we all made it through without losing eyes or limbs. We even managed to have a really great time thanks to some superb hosts! Thanks for letting us ravage your kitchen for the week! It was a Christmas to remember, no doubt.

Book group night out!


Monday, December 21, 2009

Happy Birthday Papa!



We love you Grandpa. Have a great birthday!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween






It was our first "traditional" Halloween in 4 years and it would have been perfect if Dad was here with us. We missed you! The kids had a blast of course...how can you not when everywhere you go, people hand you candy. Scott kept up with the big boys trick or treating with a look of sheer amazement most of the night. I think he may have had 20 suckers tonight.They all fit their chipmunk personalities perfectly. Especially Alvin, as you can see... Gotta love him.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Embracing Suburbia

If you would have told me 7 years ago I would be driving an Odyssey and carting the kids to soccer and swimming and gymnastics, I would have had a good laugh. That was never going to be me. Well, it seems that is the path more traveled with the modern American family. I so miss the island life. I do appreciate the conveniences so much more these days but I miss our life of leisure and our friends.
I hesitate to post because our daily life seems so unremarkable. We've set our standards way to high for life adventure. For you "Lost" followers out there, Jay inadvertently quoted Jack when he said " we have to get back to the island". It is so hard to look at life the same way again once you've been there. Lost takes on a whole new meaning.
So enough of the philosophizing. The boys are doing well. Scott is finally trying to talk he says ball and book and cat and car all of which sound pretty much the same. He has redecorated the house with markers. Everytime his brothers let one go he has is it on the wall. Taupe is boring. Scribble is the latest thing, haven't you heard?
Nate has decided he likes swimming. He is still the cautious one but is finally going under. We just got him some shiny new goggles that he is very proud of and they seem to make him much more brave. He's still the life of the house with the comedy and dancing.
Trey, being the fish that he, is competed in his first swim meet of the season last week and swam away with a couple blue ribbons. He just had his 7th b-day and is losing teeth left and right. When you're 7, missing teeth is the coolest thing in the world. Not so much when you're 37.
And that's what's happening here for the moment. Pictures next time!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Back online...for the moment anyway

Don't think we've gone and forgot about you Samoa. I just got out of the blogging habit and time got away from me and that's the only excuse I have so it'll have to do. So, to all of the friends we left behind, we miss you and hope everyone is doing well.
As for us, where to start? We moved in to our house in the Nashville suburbs December 2 and have been and are still unpacking boxes. Just in case your curious what 3 months on the dock in Samoa does to your stuff...there's not enough Lysol and Febreeze in Tennessee to get the smell out. So, we have Samoa with us still, not only in our memories.


Home sweet home

a view from the back door

Here are the first graders at Trey's school who were recognized this week for reading accomplishments (Trey is in the far right corner). He is loving his new school and teacher. It was a big change that he handled quite well. He has started gymnastics which he loves and will start soccer this week with Jay as one of his coaches. We'll see if we can get him to kick the ball this year.
Trey's big news is he gets to learn hockey from the Nashville Predators, our own NHL team. It's a free month long clinic for aspiring hockey stars. He and his dad are beside themselves with excitement.
Last week we took the kids to Playhouse Disney Live. They unfortunately didn't get to hang out and get pictures with Mickey and the gang but it was a good time. The most priceless moment was seeing Nate's face when Tigger came out. He's a fellow bouncer.



If you've followed my blog at all you probably know one of my biggest complaints about Samoa was it's lack of decent parks for kids, well, we are in park heaven now. They almost make up for our lack of beaches. Can't have it all can you? Unless you live in Hawaii.

Scott's big brothers love helping him.
......but sometimes, he just wants to do it himself! That's almost always the case these days. His most recent feat was climbing the back rungs of a dining room chair and balancing there patiently until I rescued him. He is very quiet and entertains himself and is into everything. He hasn't said anything intelligible but is working on it. He picking up sign language rather quickly. I don't know why I didn't try it with the other kids. Third time's a charm right? And is he ever.......



Nate is in preschool 3 days a week and is starting gymnastics. He's definitely the Roth family clown. He loves making everyone laugh and constantly asks the question.."are you happy?" followed up with.."I'll give you a kiss" He's the Have-a-good-day policeman.
Jay's been running a lot. He just did a half-marathon and is planning to run the Country Music marathon next month. In true Nashville style, there's a country music concert every other mile or something crazy.So that's us in a nutshell. I'm just managing the madness and that keeps me busy enough. I do find a little time to myself at the YMCA where I've discovered Zumba. It's not Veronica's Polynesian dance class but it's a good hip-shakin substitute.