Losing Ways

The last month has treated me well...kinda. I've had the chance to go see some of my favorite teams play in person. Some buddies from work and I went down to the bay area to watch Gonzaga play against the University of Santa Clara and University of San Francisco. Though an avid sports fan all my life, I can count on one hand how many big-time games I've seen in person. And the games didn't let me down. The Zags didn't play well against either team, but the atmosphere was electric in both of them. I can see why fans can really get hooked on attending college basketball games. They did beat Santa Clara...barely, but they lost to the Dons of USF a few nights later.
It wasn't but a few weeks later that my Dad treated my brother in law, my brother, and me to a Utah Jazz game against the Sacramento Kings. Anybody who knows me, knows I'm a very big fan of the Jazz. Ever since boyhood, I've followed the Jazz closely along with the rest of my family. We met in Sac-town, ate some great barbecue and then headed to the stadium and our third row seats! I've gone to a few NBA games, but never sat this close to the game. We all wore Jazz shirts and stuck out like a sore thumb surrounded by King fans. We got noticed by a few players and even saluted by Carlos Boozer during warm ups. (my knees almost buckled, do you think he likes me??) The Jazz didn't play well, even though they came into the game on a win streak and were playing against one of the worst teams in the league. They lost by a few points but it was still a cool adventure. NBA games are very different from college games, it's much more entertainment than the pure basketball that college games provide. It was great to hang with the Wallace men (and Fryer I suppose) for an evening.
Then a few weeks later, I set out for Las Vegas to watch Gonzaga play in their conference tournament. Because they had the best record of the conference, they had a bye to the semi-finals. Which meant they only had to win two games. Gonzaga had a huge following and the arena was 90% zag fans and they were there to party! The crowd was screaming every play for the essential home team. They played well their first game, but struggled mightily during the conference finals and lost. Are you sensing a trend here? Me too. Maybe I should stick to cheering my teams from the comforts of my own living room....

Turkey Take Over

We live in a beautiful place. We love our house, but we especially love the location. We're surrounded by empty acreage which makes our relatively small five acres feel like hundreds. One of the great things that we've come to enjoy is the wild life. Aside from the gophers, who we've made enemies with, the rest of the animals are majestic to watch in there natural settings...until now.

The turkeys have been our on again/off again friends. Friends when they hang out outside the lawn, NOT friends when they stay on the lawn and....cough...cough...leave "fertilizer" all over the place. Because, please remember, though turkeys are birds, they don't leave behind cute little turkey...muffins, they leave behind dinosaur-sized muffins!

It's usually not that bad since the turkeys normally hang out in groups of 10-15. But this winter, the turkey (flocks? cackles? groups? posse's?) have combined for some reason to amass in numbers of 60-80!! I tried to count them a few times and I got up to 67 before they scattered.

I'm not sure of these turkeys' master plan. But I'm a little concerned about a hostile take-over with their sharp talons. If we are attacked by turkeys, don't tell me that I didn't warn you.

Tooth fairy

Caleb, 7, had been close to loosing one of his front teeth for a couple weeks. I had offered to pull the tooth out using various methods we researched on youtube, but Caleb was insistent that he wanted his tooth to come out at school where the kids receive a special box to take it home.

A few days ago, Caleb came home from school with his cheesy grin missing a key ingredient. He explained to us that he had pulled the tooth out himself in the bathroom and had also administered the first-aid needed while alone? A curious story in itself, but we didn't pry much. He was very excited though, enough to overcome the lack of 'special boxes' that the school had apparently run out. He was mostly focused on the arrival of the tooth fairly.

Monica has a cute little bag that the kids put their dead teeth in when placing them under the pillows before night, and that night was no exception. What did change that evening was Abby, 5, caught a case of the barfo-rama's that kept Mon and I up every hour or so through the night. (We're still training Abby to throw up in the toilet or a bowl...and though she's getting better, 'close' doesn't really count in the throw-up game).

As we all woke up and started our morning routine, Caleb came up to Mon and me in the kitchen and announced that the tooth fairy had forgotten him! Whoops! Mon and I immediatly shared some eye contact full of shame, we had completely forgotten about Caleb's tooth. Crisis-control took over and I started to fumble out some sort of story for Caleb as Monica ran upstairs to remedy the situation. Mon quickly placed some money under Caleb's pillow, but not before she found this letter on his bed:

For those who are 1st grader illiterate, it says:

Dear tooth fairy, why did you not come to me and get my tooth.

Write on the back of the paper. P.S. I hope you get my tooth.

Now let's all let out a collective sigh. Ahhhhhhhh.

Mon couldn't bear to write on the same paper (which was promptly held for future generations) and along with the money, wrote a note from the tooth fairy that stated that the tooth fairy was sorry she was late but she didn't want to bother your sister, Abby, while she was sick.

The crisis was averted. But I have to wonder how much longer we can pull this stuff off with our kids.

Christmas Trip

We enjoyed a quick trip to Medford, OR to see family and friends. Grandma and Grandpa Wallace always make Christmas exciting for both kids and adults. It was a great time had by all.


Several people asked that I not play any practical jokes about Santa bringing coal to Caleb. (click here for last year's pratical joke gone bad) Caleb had a curious Christmas in that prior to Christmas, he was questioning the whole Santa story, but has soon as he saw the Lego Police Station that he had requested, he was a believer again. I'm wondering how many Christmases we'll have with the real Santa? Since I'm sure that once Caleb catches on, Abby will know soon after.

After Medford, we came home to spend time with the Foster family. We enjoyed our annual trip to the Coeur d'Alene Resort for gallon-sized ice cream deserts and then celebrated a fake New Year's Eve on Dec 30th. It's always great to spend time with our family for the holidays.

Cousins enjoying their new Pj's from G&G Wallace

Grandpa Wallace reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve

What's Christmas without something from Hannah Montana?

Trains always play a big role during Grandpa Wallace's Christmas

Christmas Letter '09

Merry Christmas to all!

Al Gore has asked me to send out our Christmas letter electronically this year...either that or I don't think our friends and family are worth the price of a stamp....you decide. We've enjoyed receiving all kinds of letters from you, everyone seems to be doing very well. And you could add us to the list of those who are richly blessed. We live a fantastic life. Here's a quick update on our stellar family, try not to be too jealous of us. (Also remember that I tend to exaggerate).

Abby, 5, is the princess of our home. She sings, dances, and then demands that we do what she says. If she weren't so darn cute, we'd say 'no'. But Daddy's little girl gets what she wants. She's becoming a fan of pop music and has even memorized lyrics from such talented artists as Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift. Unfortunately Abby's voice hasn't quite matched her skill of memorization. The howling dogs and coyotes can attest to my opinion. She also started taking piano lessons this year from her Grandma Foster. And despite my protests, Abby has joined a cheer leading squad that correlates with Caleb's basketball league. I'm sure I deserve having a daughter as a cheerleader, I was just hoping the God would punish me in other ways, like being burned at the stake or living during a famine. But Abby is very happy and growing into a wonderful young lady.

Caleb, 7, is our nearly perfect son. Years ago, when we were trying to have kids and I was dreaming of what my son would be like, Caleb was exactly what I was dreaming about. He continues to love sports, playing soccer, baseball and basketball. We play together all the time at home until it gets dark or I fall over, which ever comes first. We've also been catching a lot of the minor league, college, and high school sports that are played in Spokane. Caleb's in 1st grade and loves school and all that it entails. He loves riding the bus, school work, lunch time, reading, teasing girls, and of course recess. His new found love this year is reading, he's probably read more books already than I had through all high school. He lays in bed each night reading before falling asleep. I've even checked on him an hour after he's gone to bed and he was still reading. Mon and I couldn't be more proud of both our kids.

Monica keeps our house afloat. Our kids' success in school and other activities, is because of her efforts. Plus without her, Caleb and Abby would be getting really tired of frozen pizza and canned raviolis. Aside from all she does for us at home, Mon's business continues to stay strong. I joke that she's making us rich $.75 at a time, but for a business that was started from scratch, she has built an amazing company with her website, message board, and subscription services. http://www.transparenttouches.com/ is her passion and being able to do it from home makes it a perfect fit. In her business travels this last year, Mon has bumped into several C-list celebrities this year including Alfonso Riberio (from the TV show 'Fresh Prince of Bel air"), Joey Fatone (from the pop music group 'NSYNC), and Paris Hilton (why is she famous again?). Kinda strange we know, but growing up in Medford and Spokane, this was very exciting for us.

What about me? Thanks for asking....I'm still a nurse... blah..blah... Dad...blah...blah.. Husband...blah..like sports... blah..blah... third nipple...read a lot..blah..blah..and I love to work around our house. That basically sums me up.

Though I've been slacking as of late, we try to keep our friends/family updated with our family blog. Everyone is welcome to visit http://www.jailfreewallacefamily.blogspot.com/ and stay posted on our adventures. We hope this message finds all of you full of happy thoughts and laughter.

Merry Christmas from the Wallaces

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sports time

I've been catching a lot of slack for not updating the family blog. But I'm getting back on the horse...or is it the bandwagon?...whatever it is that I'm suppose to get on..I'm on it!!! That didn't sound right either.
Sports!! I love sports, and both Caleb, 7 and Abby, 5 are getting there fill of sports these days. We've tried to take advantage of living in the 'big city' by following the local teams. There are teams that most of you outside Spokane have never heard of, but to Caleb, the best player on Spokane Chiefs Hockey team might as well be Wayne Gretzky.
The downside? Every team has some sort of cheerleader or dance team, and it's those dancing chicks in short skirts that seem to make the biggest impact on Abby. Shortly after high school (when I did love watching the cheerleaders), my brother and I both agreed that cheerleading should have no part of sporting events, they're just a nuisance really. And I also feel that it's a little degrading to women to have them wear their skimpy outfits and jump up and down in front of the crowds....oh, I sound so mean, I know. And because of my cruel thoughts, how has karma paid me back? It made my daughter fall in love with the idea of being a cheerleader...now that's mean! What's happened to my brother, you ask? He's only parented boys thus far, but how sweet would it be if one of those boys was a cheerleader? Sorry bro.
This winter, we even decided to let Monica join us for a sporting event and invited her to come to a hockey game with us. She was a good-luck-charm for the team though, not only did they score six goals (free Chalupas for everyone!!), but one player scored three goals for the first hat-trick on the team in years!
Basketball season is now upon us and Caleb and we have some sweet systems when watching local high school teams. Remember that my love for sports is quickly followed by my love to not spend money. We either try and get in the gym during the J.V. game, avoiding having to pay, or use other methods of free admission (which may or may not include Caleb walking past the ticket window as a little innocent boy and running to the other side of the gym and opening the door for pops!)

Abby "cheering" at a Lady Gonzaga game. My idea of showing her that girls can play the sports too backfired after she was given these pom poms.

I think Wayne Gretzky is down there playing?

Great looking fam!..celebrating free Chalupas from Taco Bell

At a minor league baseball game last summer

Safety Second

As an ICU nurse, I catch a little slack from docs and nurses about letting my kids ride there 4-wheeler and motorcycle, but I don't think I'd have it any other way. I won't bore anyone with my opinion of our "safety first" society and how it's smothering our own kids' confidence as well as there sense of adventure, but please note, I'm not in agreement. I'm more of a "laugh-first, safety-second Dad.

The new ride this summer is the Honda CRX 50. I bought it off Craigslist last Christmas for a smokin' deal, but it took me about 8 months to get it running (remember that I am a nurse). Caleb has taken to the motorcycle with a lot of excitement, and it's been a fairly easy transition from his 4-wheeler. It only took a couple times of falling over to remember when he stops, the needs to put his feet on the ground.

Abby has been wanting to ride the 4 wheeler for a couple years now, but this summer was the first time that we let her drive around without me running behind her. She does a great job and is loving every second. Her biggest challenge is when the camera comes out, she's more interested in posing for the photo rather then watching where she's going (see video).

Some videos from Wallace Park

Kneebording summer

Our typical day at the lake started by doing some yard maintenance then heading out on the boat. As good parents, we let the kids play first, but that meant we had to bring out the dreaded tubes. I realize that for most people, tubes are a blast. They're easy to ride, can be a ton of fun, and require no teaching/learning. But for those of us who frequent the lake a lot, tubes can also be a total drag (get it?) They hog up time and gas, all the kids want to ride them going slightly faster than a walking pace, and frankly it's boring to watch.

The last month of the summer I heard a friend of mine explain that had the same feelings about tubes and had made the rule on his boat that his kids had to do anything else, whether is being wake boarding, knee boarding or even just dragged behind the boat with only a rope, all before the tube riding began. It was great idea and I gave it life on our boat and it worked like a charm.

Not only did the kids love to knee board, but the last few times this summer, we didn't even bring the tubes with us...blissful times. Here's the proof

And video evidence

So. Cal Day 7: Disneyland

We spent the last day of our trip mostly at Disneyland. It was on a Tuesday during the off season and again we were blessed with relative short lines. We were at the gates before they opened and we stayed until the park closed (which is earlier than during the summer). We even made a quick trip back over to California Adventure to catch the Pixar Parade and some of our favorite rides. We were able to get on every ride in the park that the kids wanted, and even some that they didn't want. Here are some quick highlights.

*Abby got to spend more time with her Princess friends. I'm pretty sure she thinks that most of them are real. It's hard to tell. But one thing is for sure, she loves looking at the likes of Snow White and Tinker-bell.

*Caleb's favorite ride of the day was Thunder Mountain. It's a wild roller-coaster with a train theme. There was no line at all, we rode it 5-6 times in a row while the girls were admiring the princesses. During one of the rides on Thunder Mountain, Caleb kept dropping his head over like he was retching. I was trying to ask him if he was OK, but with the bumpy ride we weren't able to communicate very well. Finally after a few minutes of me worried that he was sick, the train came to a slow incline and I asked him if he was 'OK'. He looked at me with a big grin and said that he was fine but that he saw a quarter on the floor by his foot and he was trying to reach it during the ride despite his little body being thrown around. And yes, he did finally get the quarter, which I'm pretty sure got him more excited than anything else that day. He just kept talking about how lucky he was to find $.25. Someday I'll tell him how much it cost us to get into Disneyland, until then he continues to think he won the lottery.

*California Adventure closed that day at 6 PM and we kinda lost track of time. Around 5 PM we decided to jog across the border from Disneyland and see the Pixar parade over in California Adventure. Once there, Caleb kept talking about going on the Screaming California Roller coaster again. As soon as the parade was over we went to a ride that both Monica and I liked, expecting it to be our last ride before closing. But as we were on that ride (California Soaring), Caleb asked if we could run to the California Screaming Roller Coaster (CSRC) afterwords. I fully expected that we wouldn't make it before it closed, but decided to give it a shot. So we ran through the park, dodging young kids and strollers for a good 1/2 mile. Just as we got to the CSRC, the young girl pulled the chain across the entrance. I couldn't believe it, we were literally 3 seconds late. So as she turned her head I stepped over the chain and Caleb and I ran up to the line. I was sure that she saw us, but she ended up standing behind us for the entire line (making sure no one else got on) and didn't mention anything. I felt bad that Caleb had to see his Dad defy authority and jump the chain, but drastic times called for drastic measures. We were officially the last two riders on the CSRC that day, but it got better as the line shortened. When we made our way to the front of the line, the coaster was full.....we were not only the last to ride, we had the next coaster all to ourselves. Of coarse we chose the front row again.

*While we were the only riders on the Screaming California Roller Coaster, I still heard a lot of screaming??? That's right, leave it to Walt Disney to pipe in the sound of people screaming.

*Several of Caleb's friends had told him that their favorite thing to do at Disneyland was the Jedi Training. But Caleb's not a big Star Wars fan and when we stumbled upon the training, he wasn't interested. But just as much as Caleb despises being in front of crowds, Abby longs for any chance to be on stage (see Hannah Montana). So Abby became the first Jedi of our famliy. I'm now fairly certain if the Dark Side wanted us, Darth Vader would be moving in tomorrow. See Video for proof.

*As with any trips that involve Monica, pictures are taken..in abundance. Though she is much better than she use to be, her passion for taking pictures is starting to bother Caleb. Let's see if you can find the pictures that Caleb didn't want to be in.

Bye bye Disneyland!