Over the Fleigs Fence

December Daily days 11 - 16

2010-12-21T20:47:00.001-08:00

Day 11

I wrapped some Christmas stories and a lego movie. I let each of the boys pick one gift and open them then we read their books. (It’s Christmas David and Drummer Boy) The boys were so excited to get to open a present. That was our family thing for today.

Day 12

So today was so fun because of Jack’s impromptu Santa act. The plan was to make sugar cookies together while the cookies baked we got a story out to read. Jack said he would read the story because Roger and I were cleaning up. When we came to sit down and listen, Jack had cut out a paper beard and taped it on. He read I Believe in Santa Claus then had each of the kids come sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. It was so hilarious and so fun to see Jack take the lead and make it fun for the younger kids.

We have a class on Thursday evenings so our candlelit dinner was a little rushed but still super fun. Jack and Grady made dinner for everyone. Jack was in charge of the pizzas and Grady made a delicious salad. My centerpiece decorated our table and we used the china. Jack added a tablecloth after some encouragement. Me- Jack go get a Christmas tablecloth out of the closet.

Jack – What?

Me – A Christmas tablecloth, you know the gold one or the green and red one.

Jack – Where is it?

Me – In the closet.

Jack came back with a blue and white tablecloth.

December daily days 8,9 & 10

2010-12-11T17:06:00.001-08:00

Today, is Wednesday which means early release from school for the big boys, which means we have time to do something. Jack has been talking about going to the Harry Potter Exhibition for weeks it is at Pacific Science Center in Seattle, so today was the day! I didn’t know what to expect but with the price to get in I hoped it would be good. It was well done, we all really enjoyed it. Jack was sorted into the Gryffindor house and we got to see many real props from the movie like a life-sized Hogwarts Express train, go inside Hagrid’s house, help Professor Sprout by pulling up mandrakes (they were loud)and see the life sized head of one of the dragons. Of course it all ended in a gift shop where they sold movie prop quality wands for $45 or marauder's map for $44. After narrowly escaping the gift shop we played till closing in the science center!

Day 9

Today Dad and Mom were trying to get projects around the house done so instead of doing something extreme today we wrote Santa letters and emailed them. It was really fun because Santa wrote back immediately and each of the boys got a letter to print out.

Day 10, Friday

Today Dad, Mom and Scarlett visited Asher’s class. In the morning Asher and Mom made Christmas mix to take to Asher’s class. We brought a Christmas story called Auntie Claus and Dad read to the class. Asher was so pleased to have his dad read to everyone and to share the Christmas mix at snack time. Love how excited he gets when we come to school!

Later on Friday night we had the church Christmas party. It was wonderful!

December Daily day 7

2010-12-11T00:55:00.001-08:00

Everyone fought me about going in the rain but it turned out alright and after buying hot chocolate everyone was happy the rest of our visit.

December Daily day 6

2010-12-09T01:07:00.001-08:00

Mondays are crazy and hectic because right after school we drive Grady to Bellevue Country Day School for Science class. To add to the crazy Roger could not pick him up because he had to go to work during his infant care leave and stay late. So I drove back to Bellevue to pick up Grady then rushed everyone thru dinner(that Amy provided) and took the boys to Hapkido because Roger was still at work and could not go with the boys to martial arts.

Tonight everyone got hot chocolate after Hapkido and Roger read to everyone. Perfect end to long day!

December Daily days 3 and 4

2010-12-09T00:23:00.001-08:00

Day 3, Friday

We went to Hilton in Bellevue to view the gingerbread houses. The gingerbread houses were incredible. Our favorite was the Hogwarts castle. We ended up bidding on several houses because we were the first to view the houses and the auction was starting at the reasonable price of $30 for each house. So all the boys went home excited that we might be able to take one of these creations home. Then we went out to dinner and then home for the night.

Day 4, Saturday

Today is Redmond Lights at City Hall but instead of going to that we decided that the boys would really rather make graham cracker houses. Dad would like to work on a computer project for Mom backing up all of our digital pictures and help Grandma Sandy with her computer over the phone.

So Mom pulled out the 5 bags of Halloween candy leftover. The end result is fantastic.

December Daily day 5

2010-12-08T23:52:00.001-08:00

Today was simple, it is Sunday, we don’t usually go anywhere just stay home and enjoy time to relax. We went to church, which is never pretty as we try to get everyone to the car. (usually takes some threatening, yelling and counting to get the boys dressed and in the car) But we still had a good day. When we returned home from church Roger and I did one on one time with each of the boys. (They love that they get to control an activity and they have our undivided attention for half an hour.) Jack and I made cake mix cookies of his own made up recipe then got his teacher gift (an ornament with feathers in a glass globe) wrapped and decorated a tag. Then Grady and Asher also wanted to do their teacher gifts, which we did for their time.

Then for family time we made Christmas mix to give to neighbors. Jack documented this with his DSi(budding blogger?).

Here is page 5.

December Daily, Day 2

2010-12-05T00:44:00.001-08:00

Today is our crazy day so we decided to do gingerbread houses.

December Daily

2010-12-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

My dear friend Amy introduced me to December daily albums this year. So as a family we decided this would be a wonderful way to bring in the Christmas spirit and a way to grow closer as a family. (It also forces me to learn more about digital scrapbooking.) So everyday of December till Christmas we do something Christmas oriented as a family and of course every night you scrapbook your day.

The anticipation has been building with the boys since I introduced the idea in November to them. The boys couldn’t wait to get the tree and decorations out. (Might have been the early snowfall Monday before Thanksgiving that has them so excited.) So we didn’t wait for December to decorate we went ahead and put the tree up.

As we pulled all the decorations out of the garage Roger and I realized we never got the decorations out last year since we spent the month of December in Florida last year for my sister, Hannah’s wedding. Asher went thru every ornament saying “Ohhh look it is sooo cute, I remember this one!”

We left the bottom branches off our fake tree to accommodate little miss Scarlett, she is crawling everywhere now. I think she has only ingested a few of the fake pine needles so far.

So for Day 1 we started the much anticipated advent calendars and we went to watch the Christmas ships in Kirkland. It was so much fun and the weather was great, no snow, no rain and no cold (that never happens in the NW). There was a bonfire set on the beach and Christmas lights on the ships and on some of the trees lining the water front. It was beautiful. There were not too many people out so we easily found our friends (Amy’s family). Amy’s daughter immediately took Scarlett and the boys paired up with Amy’s other kids so Roger and I got to sit with each other without kids(that never happens). The Christmas ship had live carolers onboard and they amplified it so everyone on the waterfront could hear. The lights and the music were fantastic!

As we were leaving Grady and Asher ran ahead while we were strapping Scarlett into her stroller. Amy towed Asher back unwillingly.

Amy- “Asher your mom doesn’t know where you are.”

Asher- “I’m wright hewer!” arms up and stomping

Amy- “ Asher your mom doesn’t know that you need to go back to your family.”

Asher- “Aww just fworget bout it"!” waving Amy off

That is when Amy just towed him back to us. Asher is hard to discipline cause he just cracks us up.

The Christmas ship, it was a great way to start the Christmas season!

My Dad

2010-06-21T00:39:00.001-07:00

Today is Father’s day and I had to teach sharing time at church today. After a lesson on the Holy Ghost we made cards for our Dads and handed out a “How well do you know your dad” list of questions.

When the boys and I got home from church we made cupcakes that looked like owls then the boys filled out their answers to the questions. We sat down with Roger and we all said our answers then Roger gave us the correct answer. It was fun, I even learned a few things about Roger that I didn’t know. When he was a kid he spent a week in the hospital in a oxygen tent and when he was in Saudi Arabia he had a very high temperature and stumbled to the medic and was immediately put on an iv. Band of Brothers is his all time favorite movie. So each of the boys got a cupcake if they could answer one question correctly about their dad because they were deemed a Wise Guy if they got the answer right. We gave Roger a card that said “Happy Father’s Day to a Wise Guy!”

Well this got me thinking about my own dad and all the things I don’t know about him. So I called him and with my list of questions in hand, some of his answers I expected and some I was surprised about. For all my siblings here is what he said:

Who is he named after? Dennis for a trumpet player grandma had a crush on in the 20’s or 30’s and O'Neil for his Dad’s brother Uncle O'Neil.

What is his favorite cereal? cheerios

Where was he born? Santa Monica, CA

Are his parents members of the church? their work is done

How old was he when he got married? 21

What is his favorite flavor of ice cream? Neapolitan

Would he rather visit a mountain hideaway or a beach house? both you know he loves to explore

What is his favorite movie? Avatar

What is the sickest time he has ever experienced? Ulcers in 3rd grade till he was a junior in high school, he said it was so painful and the doctors would have him take aspirin for it. Then when he was 17 they cut out 3/4 of his stomach.

What does he do in his spare time? invent /create

What is his favorite song? If I can dream by Elvis Presley and Don’t take my love away unsure of who sings it he said it is kind of reggae.

What has been his happiest moment? Spending time with the kids “They are my best friends!”

Who are 2 of his best friends? grandkids

What is his favorite sport? racing planes “right now they are in NY they fly all over the world in a race”

How many brothers/sisters does he have? 3 brothers

What hardships has he overcome? Being brought up poor so he wanted things, a lot. He has have overcome his want mostly.

What does he enjoy most in life? His kids/grandkids and church

Regrets? He didn’t realize his best friends as much as he wanted to. Would like to have treated my kids the way I treat my grandkids.

My dad is a kind-hearted, loving person. He was hard on us at times but I never doubted his love for me. He taught all of how to work hard and to have pride in our work. Love you Dad, Happy Father’s Day!

Miss Scarlett Rebekah Fleig

2010-06-20T22:06:00.001-07:00

39 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy

We welcomed Scarlett at 4:47pm on February 16, 2010 although it took a day to decide on her name. She was born weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and 21.65 inches long. This is the shortened version of events, if you don’t want to know anymore about Scarlett’s birth don’t read any further.

I started the day out at 4:40am, I had to call the hospital and confirm I should still come in at 6am for my induction. The answer was yes, so I texted my friend Shannon “the Paparazzi” that it was still happening at 6am. After I took a quick shower, Shannon arrived to take pictures of me as I was ready to load my things in the car (this was before 5:30am). Shannon is a really good friend, I can’t believe she got up so early! Roger stayed home to get the kids to school in the morning, only after I assured him I wouldn’t let them break my water without him there. He was a little worried he might miss the birth of his daughter.

When we got to the hospital, Arla my intake nurse checked us in. Then later in the morning she let Tiffany and Lisa take over since Lisa was training to become a Labor and Delivery nurse over from post par dome nursing. I got a two for the price of one deal! They took great care of me, it was awesome having two dedicated nurses all day from start to finish.

I had group b strep so I had to have antibiotics before delivery and since my previous births were quick we decided to induce. After getting hooked up to the monitors they started the antibiotics and the pitocin. It was a lot of walking the halls then stopping because the monitor would lose the signal on the baby’s heart (which really means the cord was wrapped around her) and I would come back to room and reposition the monitor and sit for them to get a read on her heart.

At 11:30 or so the contractions were going consistently but not painful and Roger had made it to the hospital. Dr. Wells broke my water I think at 1pm. We did some more walking and Amy Barry arrived as well as Brett Ross. We had a lot of joking and laughing with the nurses, it was a party. Lisa my nurse had never heard the song “Business Time” by Flight of the Concords so we showed her the you tube video of the song and laughed ourselves silly.

This picture I think was after Dr. Wells broke my water and I was making Roger massage my feet to get my contractions going more.

At 3pm the contractions were getting a little more intense and at 3:50pm I got into the bath and it was so soothing. The nurse got me a doughnut to sit on and towel to cover my front up and Roger sat next to me and poured warm water all over me while the jets made my back feel better. Then it started to get really uncomfortable and I got out of the tub.

At 4:30 the baby was transitioning and I was in pain. Shannon captured a great picture of this.

Brett and Amy were putting cool clothes on my neck and forehead. During contractions I would smell my mint lip gloss to get through the pain. I was asking the nurses for some tylenol or something and they said they would check to see if I could have something to shut me up cause they knew it would be over soon.

At 4:40pm I got in bed and they took off the end of the bed. After a few pushes her head was out and the cord was wrapped around her neck four times. Then she delivered the rest of the way at 4:47pm and I didn’t tear this time, so no stitches!

This moment was so sweet made even sweeter that my friend Amy was there. Four months earlier Amy delivered her little boy Calvin 8 weeks early via emergency c-section and he died shortly after birth. Losing Calvin makes me hold our children a little tighter because of the awareness at how fragile life is. So precious and desired this little girl is to me.

Merry Christmas from the Fleig family!

2009-12-20T11:11:00.001-08:00

We have been very blessed to have some wonderful experiences as a family this year! The most precious is our upcoming addition, a little sister in February! Everyone was excited to learn we are going to have a sister, except Asher. Asher is slowly warming to the idea of a sister, many weeks after learning the sex of the baby.

We also got the chance to spend spring break in Florida with Mandy’s family and make a trip to SeaWorld, we were not disappointed. The orca show was amazing! We also had a real treasure hunt with all the cousins hosted by Aunt Summer and Aunt Bethany, this was the highlight of the trip for the boys. We cheered our knight at Medieval Times to victory!!! We rode on Papa Plasse’s boat. We trapped multiple lizards and swam in Aunt Summer’s pool. We got to witness Aunt Hannah’s engagement to Michael Martin, we are so excited to welcome him into our family!

In June, we went to Mexico and met Mandy’s brother and his family there. It was a truly fantastic trip! I think the cousins had a sleepover almost every night and Ryan, Marsha, Roger and I enjoyed rekindling our friendship after many years apart. We snorkeled, relaxed on the beach, watched some neat shows, and explored the ruins together. We all agreed we should do it again!

Throughout this year we have had some experiences that made us aware of how fragile life is and have helped us feel our Saviors love all the more. We are so grateful for our family and our dear friends! Merry Christmas to each of you and may you feel our Savior’s love throughout the upcoming year!

Roger, Mandy, Jack, Grady and Asher

Veterans' Day Tribute

2009-11-13T23:35:00.001-08:00

Tuesday November 10th Jack’s school had an assembly for Veterans’ Day since they are out of school today. The entire third grade class was singing in the assembly. The school asked for any local veterans to come and be our guest at the assembly. Jack’s dad, Roger served for 9 months in Saudi Arabia in ‘91 during the Gulf War, he is usually shy about telling people this. Roger was a supply clerk in the Army Reserves so he didn’t have to see a lot of combat. So Jack of course wanted his dad to come and be recognized yesterday, it turned out to be a great assembly! It made me so proud of Roger, his cousins (Ray and Tony) and our dear friend Darrell Carr (who is currently serving abroad). Ray was nearly fatally wounded and still recovering from his injuries and his brother Tony has been deployed twice. I love these men and I am so grateful to each one!!!!

The Blessings I have seen and felt today

2009-10-15T22:51:00.001-07:00

Today I watched a family draw close to each other

Today I saw the beautiful body of a newborn

Today I witnessed grief and pain but also more love and compassion from so many

Today I felt my Savior wrap his arms around us

My dear friend lost her baby today after an emergency c-section. It was a very humbling experience as I helped their children thru the day and watch the compassion and love from so many friends today.

Volunteer Tea @ Horace Mann

2009-06-24T21:49:00.001-07:00

The 2nd grade performed for all the parents that volunteer throughout the year at the school. Here is a video of Jack performing.

We are in Mexico – Wednesday June 17th & Thursday the 18th

2009-06-24T21:21:00.001-07:00

Today Wednesday, we celebrated Miss Maddie’s Birthday which isn’t until the 19th but we wanted to celebrate while all the kids were together. We got her a coconut purse with a little beaded Mexican doll necklace.

The kids ended the party with an authentic pinata!

Our little sweeties after dinner on one of the beds at the beach.

Thursday

Today we mostly packed up and played in the pool before we had to go to the airport. Ryan and Marsha took all the kids to the pool while Rog and I packed everything up in the hotel room. We got done quickly and still had time to take a dip in the pool. Then we hurried back to our room at noon called the bell boy to pick up our bags showered, dressed and went to lunch. After lunch we said good bye to the Plasse family. When we got to the airport we had our temperatures taken and filled out surveys about our health before we could go to the airline counter. When we got to the US Airways counter the man helping us was cracking up over Asher’s passport because his pictures is from when he was like 6 months old. The US Airways employee went so far as showing it to everyone behind the counter with him, they were all chuckling about it, then he told us to take care of our kids as we were leaving. That is one of the most wonderful things I noticed about the Mexican culture while I was there was how loved and kind everyone is to children there. People recognize children wherever you go with a smile or a pat on the head.

We loved Mexico and I hope we will get the chance to go again someday!

We are in Mexico – Tuesday June 16th

2009-06-24T20:58:00.001-07:00

This is what they looked like going to bed.

This is what they looked like at 8:30 in the morning.

This is the view from our room in the morning! I am so sad to be leaving this!

Today reality started to set in that we have to leave paradise soon. Today we enjoyed the pool, Marsha and I went into Puerto Morales to shop and we took a lot of pictures today.

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The above album is of the kids in the pool mostly.

My big brother Ryan and my sister-in-law Marsha.

Miss Maddie in her new Mexican dress almost eight years old, bonita senorita!

We are in Mexico – Monday June 15th

2009-06-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

Today the big highlight of the day was going for a catamaran ride and snorkel tour.

This is the building we stayed in at our hotel, 3rd floor on the middle left side of the building. Ryan and Marsha were directly below us on the 2nd floor.

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This album is of everyone on the boat.

They took the snorkeling people in two groups so all the boys went on the first group. Miss Maddie went with me and Ryan on the 2nd group. This was the best snorkeling I have ever experienced!! I saw three sea turtles, lots of beautiful coral in several colors, tons of fish, a barracuda, a blowfish, a starfish, some conch, 2 big lobster, a colorful crab, Christmas tree worm and lots of things I don’t have names for!

They even let me drive the boat, scary!

We are in Mexico – Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 12th 13th & 14th

2009-06-19T06:54:00.001-07:00

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We went to the Mercado today in Cancun. We first went to a huge market, Market 28 had lots of tourist stuff. It was very hot and people were very persistent because business has been slow due to the swine flu scare. I enjoyed bartering but Roger did not. I bought some jewelry, vanilla and t-shirts. Then we went to lunch where Grady had a full blown melt down and would not even come into the restaurant and Asher was asleep and stayed asleep thru lunch. When we talked Grady down he came in and fell asleep on two chairs without eating lunch.

After lunch we went to the fish and meat Mercado, Market 24 here was a candy store there and Ryan got a piñata for Maddie’s birthday. We also found a toy booth, we let each of the boys buy something. Jack and Grady bought sling shots or razor terra in Spanish. Asher got some plastic lizards.

Saturday we stayed at the resort and played in the pool. Everyone needed a break from the heat and riding in the car. Marsha and I went kayaking and to the spa. The kids went to kid’s club and played in the sand and the pool. Ryan and Roger built sand castles.

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Sunday we went to Ek Balam one of the big highlights of our vacation! These ruins are some of the only ruins that you can still climb. It was so incredible to see this city and wonder at the Mayan people that once lived here. They are doing extensive restoration and you can see in come of the pictures what it would of looked like when it was inhabited with stucco covering the stones and thatch on the roofs. I felt so blessed to be able to experience this incredible place. We climbed to the top of the largest intact structure and as you look around you can see how much work that has gone into putting these structures back together. On either side of the main structures there are hills of what looks like rubble I wonder if that is what it looked like for each of the structures when they were first discovered. This was truly one of the neatest experiences. The number of people that must of inhabited this city was larger than Tulum and they are still uncovering more structures.

After Ek Balam we drove thru a little village and saw how people lived in the more rural areas. My camera died at Ek Balam or I would have captured some of this village because people live in huts built out of sticks with thatch roofs and dirt floors. We could see one family’s cooking fire thru the gaps in the wall of their little hut. The families in this village mostly live in one room huts so no bedrooms for privacy and no bathroom in their hut. There was baseball field complete with dugouts that was nice and there was a school with open air classrooms kind of like a self carwash building, there was a roof and two walls and a concrete floor. The town also had a restaurant and hotel probably to service the tourists of Ek Balam. As we drove into a more wealthy village I saw a gated church that was very nicely kept and noticed it was and LDS church.

Chichen Itza

above is the ball court There is a hoop above my head, we all discussed how difficult that would be to get the ball thru those hoops. The hoop is small and is more than 12 feet off the ground.

This city was enormous. There were archeological digs open for you to see how much more there is to uncover if they could dig down another 4 feet throughout the city.

Above is the jaguar bench. The jaguar and the serpent are very popular in the carvings throughout the city.

The kids were getting tired at this point in the day and you can’t climb on these structures so the children were not as interested at Chichen Itza. It was a very large city though and there were people everywhere set up to sell their wares. When were done looking at the city I bought some Mexican style shirts for everyone and then we all hoped in the van and headed back to the resort.

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We are in Mexico – Thursday June 11th

2009-06-19T06:16:00.001-07:00

We (Lydia, Maddie, Jack, Carson and I) swam with dolphins today at Xel-Ha an ecopark near Tulum.

We also did some snorkeling! Everyone except Grady and Asher who were perfectly happy to sit in the sand and play.

We also floated down a river on inner tubes. Initially Asher did not want to go but he had a great time when we got into the water. Below is a picture before we all did the float trip. Roger was corralling Asher and I was the camera woman.

We also walked across a floating bridge that was rocking pretty hard then swam in a small cave. It was a very hot but fun day.

We are in Mexico – Wednesday June 10

2009-06-19T01:21:00.001-07:00

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Today we visited Tulum! This city sits literally on the waters edge of the gulf. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Our taxi driver Siestu even took us to Wal-Mart so we did not have to pay 20$ for one bottle of sunscreen like in the gift shop at the hotel. The exchange rate is 12 pesos to 1 us dollar and I had to pay 219 pesos the second day we arrived in the gift shop because I forgot to pack our sunscreen.

We are in Mexico – Tuesday the 9th

2009-06-18T07:03:00.001-07:00

Asher stealing gum still in his jammies before breakfast. He has his shoes on because he wouldn’t change his clothes to go to breakfast.

The highlight of Roger’s day was catching a large grouper. The restaurant at the marina prepared our fish for dinner and it was excellent, I even ate it and I do not like fish.

We are in Mexico-Sunday & Monday

2009-06-18T07:02:00.001-07:00

Today we played on the beach and some of us snorkeled. The beach has huts all up and down the beach and a waiter comes by every half hour replenishing drinks as you relax in a hammock or lay on a lounge chair. The sand is very fine sugar white sand, the kids spend hours digging for coral pieces and making castles.

Jack has decided he does not like the beach but prefers the pool that is 4 foot deep and has a large slide and 9 footcliff jump into a deeper secluded pool.

There is a kids club that has activities all day for the children and today was the first day we talked our kids into trying it out. My nieces and nephew had no reservations to trying it but we had to almost forcibly put our kids in and of course they enjoyed themselves once they gave it a chance.

Monday was a pool day all day. Grady is a cliff diver now I (Mandy) went with him three times and after that he has been a pro. Asher played in the kiddie pool and got really comfortable swimming with his little tube, Grady is using Asher’s life jacket. Jack swims all over the pool playing with kids his age and just exploring. Roger and I are both enjoying just being at the hotel but I am getting antsy to get out to the ruins and I want to see Mexico.

We are in Mexico – Friday & Saturday

2009-06-18T07:01:00.001-07:00

Friday was a lazy day. We got the lay of the land, walked around the hotel and up and down the beach. Mostly we played in the pool. Most important today I got us a bigger room! We could upgrade for free to a one room suite or for a great deal we could pay a little more we could be completely comfortable for the two weeks and get a two room suite with three bathrooms. We decided to treat ourselves so we could enjoy our vacation and our kids, we got the two room suite. It is sooooooo much better than our first room.

Saturday was spent checking out Puerto Morelos going to the market and around the pool in wait of our cousins, Aunt Marsha and Uncle Ryan. When they finally got here we found out their room would be directly under us in the same building! We all had dinner together and the kids all played in the pool together. Carson and Jack are already inseparable, Maddie and Lydia get along great with Grady and Asher has claimed Maddie as his friend.

The kids all had popcorn with gummi worms and watched some tv together then the older boys had a sleepover. It is so fantastic to be with family!

We are in Mexico! - Thursday

2009-06-18T06:59:00.001-07:00

Our flight was Asher’s first without a car seat, it was much easier in the terminal but the flights were a little miserable. We did not make it easy for ourselves because we were packing till the last minute and only got two hours of sleep the night before. Add the two year old and lack of sleep and you have some crabby parents.

Getting off the plane in Cancun we had to go through immigration and then customs. Now for added security you have to also fill out a questionnaire about your party's health then they actually check all the children’s temperatures.

After you pass thru all of that you are released to a bunch of uniformed helpful people in the exit area that want to give you maps and sell you some tours and time shares. Then our car service to our hotel also wanted to sell us a tour if we would just keep an appointment for the following day to confirm our return trip that we already paid for. Then when we get to the front desk we are checked in and asked to speak to a hospitality specialist who wants us to buy some tours and confirm us for a meeting the next day for and hour and a half to get us to purchase a timeshare of the hotel (information about the hotel). At this point all we want to do is go to our room.

We finally get to our room and it is the size of our living room maybe smaller, 3 beds one long room. We run out to the pool and play, relax. Tonight we order room service and get settled into our room. The kids are very excited still and the time change is two hours ahead of our normal time.

Going to bed was a big challenge Asher was all over the place and Roger was able to get Jack and Grady to stay in their bed after several threats and turning out most of the lights. I paced with Asher while Roger fell asleep to Asher screaming because he wanted to sleep in our double size bed with us. I was not about to give into that, there was not enough space in the bed for our little kicker and tonight I was setting the precedent for the next two weeks. Finally Asher wore himself out and laid down in his own bed. I had to lay with him until he was completely asleep for fear of him waking again.

As I moved to my own bed and laid down I thought I do not want to do this for two weeks, we are getting a bigger room tomorrow.

My little Dancers

2009-04-29T22:01:00.001-07:00

So I thought I was filming for a full 2minutes…ahh no apparently I missed all of the robot moves.

THIS IS TO BE CONTINUED….

A Peek into my Week - Monday

2009-04-27T21:59:00.001-07:00

So today was a typical day in the life of Mandy/Mommy. It started at 6am when the alarm went off and slowly hopped out of bed to go do X stretch, got to do all but 6 minutes of it. It is suppose to be my rest day from exercising anyway. Then after shooing the big boys off to school, I went to get my haircut with Asher in tow.

Asher and I went to Target after the haircut to return something and then we went down the party isle cause July isn’t that far away. Ever since my birthday last week Asher has been asking/ demanding we light a candle and sing to him. It was a big toss up between Mickey Mouse, Elmo, Thomas and Lightening McQueen for his party theme. We bought two items and Asher is going to carry them around the house until his birthday and then he will probably decide on something totally different:)

After all that fun we came home to clean house. While I was cleaning my bathroom (I was suppose to clean the bathroom on Saturday per our chore chart, whoops) Asher fell asleep on the heated floor. So I put him to bed, this is unusual for him to fall asleep so early in the day so he might be getting sick.

Then I move on to cleaning my desk in the kitchen, this is a weekly task for me because it gets pretty messy quickly.

After this Grady got home (he rides the kindergarten bus home) we did his reading (Dick and Jane) and ate lunch. Then it was time to go to science class, we had to wake Asher up, he was a little groggy. We came home from taking Grady to science and Asher still wasn’t his usually sparkly self so he watch cartoons (Cartoons Cure!) I was tidying around the house, Jack was about to arrive home from school (carpool). I had everything together for Jack’s report at science class his report was on Labrador Retrievers so of course Odin was going to science class also. As I am about to load Asher in the car a familiar splatter vibrates thru my ears. Split second for response time and I am hoisting Asher over the sink where the splattering continues. In between cleaning puke boy and peeling his clothes off I call Rog on the phone, “HELP!”.

Roger comes home with Grady from science and I take Jack and Odin to science.

Odin and Jack gave a successful report. Jack let all the kids feed Odin popcorn and Odin fetched for each of the classmates that wanted a turn (that is all the kids except two). Jack explained about Odin’s expected lifespan and the difference between human years and dog years. Jack also talked about caring for Odin but mostly he just wanted to show off his dog!

When I got home from science class Rog had cleaned up the puke and everyone was quietly watching cartoons, PEACE at last!

Dinner was delivered, thank you Damon.

Then Rog went to pick up Jack from science. After dinner we had Family home evening, the song was “Bob the Builder”, Asher’s choice between pukes in a bucket which he retrieved on his own. We talked about Education and its importance and the 6 B’s (Be smart, be clean, be prayerful, be humble, be grateful). Popsicles for a treat then jammies and teeth brushing. When everyone is brushed and jammied we watch 15 minutes of a movie we started yesterday, Spacecamp then everyone to bed. Grady and I read Enemy Pie and then Dad read Magician’s Apprentice and put everyone to sleep.

Now here I sit falling asleep at my computer! Good night!

EASTER

2009-04-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

We had a really nice weekend! We dyed Easter eggs together.

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Saturday the skies cleared for an Egg Hunt. Every year we meet with friends at the kid’s elementary school and bring plastic eggs filled with candy then we put on an egg hunt for all the kids.

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Unexpectedly both the big boys had play dates for Saturday afternoon so Rog, Asher and I got to go shopping for awhile.

Sunday Morning we woke up to Easter baskets. Jack was the only one to notice there was an empty purple egg in his basket. He asked why I thought there was an empty egg and I asked him what that would have to do with Easter and Jesus. He knew immediately that it represented the tomb because it was empty, Jesus is resurrected!

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At church we took a family photo to remember the day.

When we got home at 2pm we had the boys clean up their mess downstairs while dad and mom got lunch/dinner ready. We got a movie for Easter and the boys were motivated cleaners so we could all watch the movie Bedtime Stories after the playroom was clean and we had finished dinner. It worked we had a great dinner and a clean playroom! The boys loved the movie too. It was a really relaxing way to end the day.

My Dad, My Friend, Our Captain, Papa

2009-04-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

Thursday, April 10, 2009 ~ I got a call that my dad was going to the hospital for a probable heart attack. Wow that was unexpected! But looking back he has felt tired and out of breath for a year. Friday the doctors did an angiogram and found one blockage and were able to put a stent in while he was still in the catheter lab. What a blessing he is out of danger! Sunday was Easter and I kept thinking of how blessed we are that Dad is alright. A blessing also that Dad will take his health really seriously and now his doctors will take his symptoms seriously.

I was just with my Dad in Florida the week before all this happened we went to SeaWorld together, we played at the beach, we went out to dinner, we did a zip line in the backyard, he took the kids thru a treasure hunt at the park, and we went boating. He is a fantastic Grandpa! Thanks for a great time Dad! I am so Grateful you are going to be okay! I love you!

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So Blessed to Have a Great Family

2009-04-13T06:32:00.001-07:00

So much has happened! The boys and I traveled to Florida on the 31st of March to spend a week at Aunt Summer’s house.

We swam in the pool with cousins! We saw the sun!

We looked for lizards!

We dined with a king at Medieval Times, our champion the yellow knight won and saved the prince!

We saw Shamu, what an incredible show!

We played on the beach and watched Aunt Hannah become engaged to soon-to-be Uncle Mike!

We hunted treasure and claimed a large bounty of booty! Aargg Matey!

Got to see Aunt Paula and Michael too!

We dined riverside and then dug up some baby crabs on Durney Key courtesy of Captain Papa Plasse and his sturdy boat!

(picture to follow soon, it is on Mimi’s camera)

We sewed with Mimi and visited with Aunt Sarah, we shopped for wedding dresses.

Met and welcomed our new niece/cousin Helena!

Then we had to say goodbye and there were tears.

St. Patrick’s Day

2009-03-17T22:50:00.001-07:00

I come from a small town in Missouri and in Rolla Saint Patrick’s Day is the biggest holiday of the year. So of course we try to make a little something of it around the house for our boys.

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On the 11th the boys had their first visit from Lucky the Leprechaun. Each of the boys got a gummi pizza with a shamrock sticker on it, it was found on the boys creation of cardboard with a note from Lucky. Sunday, the 15th they woke up to candy necklaces with shamrock stickers in their traps. (description of trap below) After church everything was quite and Grady decided he wanted to bake some banana chocolate chip muffins. As we were baking we thought we heard something as we returned to the muffins the batter had turned green and there were batter tracks on the counter and floor. On Sunday night the boys had a trap out for the leprechauns, this trap is made from wet wipe containers and it has been evolving for a week. The traps were set with crumbs of cinnamon bread. Monday morning they got green tootsie roll suckers with a note from Chauny the Leprechaun. Later that night Jack created another trap, both Grady and Jack were very excited to actually trap a Leprechaun. This morning they woke up to gold coins scattered around the house and in their traps green m&ms with a note from Lucky. Mom wasn’t sure if a Leprechaun would show up so I had little Irish charms and a “Kiss me I’m Irish” face stamp out on the counter for the boys. To our surprise after all of the other goodies as we fixed breakfast we found green milk in our fridge. The rest of the day was just fun stuff. Grady and Asher didn’t have school so Grady got to play at a friend’s house and Asher went to playgroup with me then when Jack got out of school we went to skating rink.

Happy Saint Patty’s Day!!!!

Mid Winter Break

2009-02-23T22:28:00.001-08:00

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Jack #1 and Jack #2

Making dog treats, glad we were all feeling better so the kids could enjoy some playtime during their break from school.

Jack, Grady, Nolan, Savannah, Ray and Asher

Playing in the sand in the cold for hours! Amy and I in coats and then wrapped in blankets. Amy a few days away from surgery.

The Fleig Family

Crazy Cold Virus thru our house and everyone sleeping a lot!

My Friends B & Caz

2009-02-23T22:15:00.001-08:00

Thanks for taking care of the boys, cleaning my kitchen and then making some yummy cookies!!! You Rock!

Sunrise in my kitchen

2009-02-23T22:06:00.001-08:00

Elmo’s World Day

2009-02-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

Today Asher was all about Elmo’s World. As I spoke to my friend Leia today I tried to coax Asher to say Happy Birthday to her. He was already on his play cell phone, talking to Elmo’s World apparently. He said, “It not Aunt Leia it Elmo’s World!” pointing to his phone.

As we were having Family Home Evening I asked Asher to pick the song, he picked Elmo’s World, so we sang it. Then after FHE he wanted to sing Bob the Builder.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

Just had to write about my Vday. So the day started bad. Asher is no longer in a crib so he woke up at 6:30am. I got up and put him back to bed at least four times before I put a childproof knob on the inside of his door and got to go back to bed. Needless to say I was tired when I finally got out of bed and was greeted with Asher at his door and no clothes or diaper on. I quickly realized the missing diaper had been filled with an unmentionable substance. GROSS! Not what I wanted to wake up to. After cleaning up that mess and getting the children to eat breakfast, Roger had to dash out to take Grady to karate.

Unshowered and teeth still not brushed I went up to our church to take our turn to clean the building. Jack and Ash were pretty good helpers and it didn't take long. Afterwards we went home, Rog and Grady were not back yet so we went to Ben Franklin so Jack could vote for his entry in the journal decorating contest.

We came back home and I worked on these cute little valentine buckets for the kids.

At 2:40pm Roger had to dash out again and take Jack to a basketball game. When they returned after 4pm I was still unshowered but my cute buckets were done and now I was really cleaning like a mad woman cause the sitter was going to be there at 5pm. The sitter came and I finally hoped in the shower. We left for our date after 6pm.

So I was a little grumpy and we hadn't planned anything special. But we ended up getting pedicures first at Lilly's nails. It was fantastic! I had not put my makeup on yet so we were sitting in the massage chairs and I started to put on my makeup as we were soaking our feet. The ladies that work there are all from Vietnam and they telling me how young I look and how pretty my makeup was. They were way over the top, but how can you not feel good about yourself when three women are going on and on about you. They were telling Roger he was so handsome and we were such a nice couple, anyway you get the point, it was a great way to start our date.

Then it was off to Nick's for dinner, we did not have reservations but they got us right in. The food was great! Nick's is this quaint Greek/Italian restaurant in Bellevue. Then we headed over to Macy's cause I need some stuff at the Origins counter. Then it was off to the movie theater for Paul Blart, Mall Cop. It was an uplifting and entertaining movie. If you like Kevin James then you will enjoy it.

So the end of the day was great and feeling like junk the first part of the day just made the end even sweeter.

My other kids

2009-02-10T23:19:00.001-08:00

This week I had the opportunity to watch my friend’s kids while she had surgery. They have been amazing! The joy they get from the smallest things surprises me over and over. The first day they were full of questions and exclaiming randomly “My mom is in the hospital!”. For the most part they were excited to have a sleepover on a school night, jumping up and down that they could wear our pjs.

Monday we worked on valentines for school, played at McDonald’s, and after FHE we had ice cream and strawberries. Before bed we laid on the fold out couch each child got to chose their own story book and sit next to me while I read it to everyone. They were so happy just to be included in my day they increased my joy in the days goings-on.

Today we dropped the older boys at school and then came home for a short while, during which they only made one massive fort and played restaurant. Then it was off to pick up Asher from preschool and brunch with some fantastic friends. Then off to preschool for the kids and home for Asher and I . Then off to pick the kids up from preschool and the big boys from school. Then off to scouts for Jack, afterward home for dinner. At dinner Nolan reminded Jack of our FHE lesson, “Remember Jack love everyone from family home evening last night!” Jack had been teasing Grady. Nolan’s comment made me so happy because someone was listening to my lesson. Then it was homework time and baths. After bath time I always dry my kids hair with a blow dryer and clip their nails. My extra kids all giggled and relished getting their hair blow dried. I also introduced them to baby oil for their elbows, knees and feet, they liked how soft their hands were after rubbing the oil in. Of course we had to sit on the fold out couch and all read stories again.

I don’t know, I might be able to handle six kids.

Thanks kids for being so sweet!

A peek into my week – Saturday

2009-02-06T01:30:00.001-08:00

So the day started out a little different then most Saturdays, Roger and I both got up voluntarily by 8am. We had to get the boys fed and off to their activities, one to karate and one to piano. No problem, up at 8 we can make it by 10.

Asher decided today he wanted to potty train , he took his diaper off by himself. Just as we all sat down to breakfast (I mean as I sat down to eat, everyone else was finishing their breakfast) Asher got out of his chair and I noticed a puddle in his chair. It only took a few minutes to clean it up…

Roger left while I was finishing my breakfast so he could take Grady to karate. (Roger showered as I made breakfast) I still had thirty minutes to take Jack to piano.

As I headed to my bedroom to shower, Asher was looking in the mirror trying to figure out what went wrong with his shirt. As I snapped a picture he started peeing again. As I cleaned this mess up I still had 15 minutes I could at least change out of my pajamas.

Then Jack yelled there was something stinky in his room. Yes it was poop on the rug! “Oh ASH-ER!”

Now………………………… we were LATE.

I miss my family…

2009-02-02T23:19:00.001-08:00

We went to my cousins home to watch super bowl with him and his family. My cousin, Christian is really my mother’s 1st cousin but we are close in age and we grew up in the same town so we don’t usually go to the trouble of explaining it to anyone. Brian and Courtney are Christian’s siblings.

Brian, Christian and Courtney are my cousins I grew up with and am lucky to live somewhat close to now. Brian is oldest and a big instigator or family gatherings. Brian drove all the way from Spokane to Bellingham to be will all of us, what a great cousin, brother and friend! Christian lives in Bellingham and has always been one of the kind cousins, teased Courtney and I but looked out for us too! Courtney lives in Seattle and is one month younger than me we grew up inseparable until she moved at age 15 to Seattle. I love her as my sister!

I was so excited to see family and for my children once again to have an experience playing with their cousins. I grew up with extended family always around. We had family reunions multiple times during the year, every year. I do not know if my children will ever have that. But was very excited to give it to them in a small dose at least as they got to play with Christian’s children for an afternoon.

Is knowing your extended family vital to knowing who you are ? I feel like all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents raised me almost as much as my parents. I have a deep love for all of them, but I don’t know if my children will ever feel that love for their extended family. We see our extended family about once or twice a year. I have pictures up of them, we talk about them but that does not make them physically present in our lives.

I want to change the situation but reality is most of our family lives in Florida and Missouri while we are in Washington. I think I am going to have to start creating opportunities for family to visit. If we go on vacation call everyone and personally invite them? Be more present in my extended families lives thru phone calls and emails so when opportunities come up we can be available. My aunt Jana used to fly thru Seattle for business and she would call so we could at least sit over a meal and catch up face to face for an hour.

I think that short interactions can be powerful and lasting because the effort is made to be present. If short visits are all we can have for now then we will take as many as we can until someday when all our family comes to their senses and moves to Washington.

No thank you!

2009-01-28T23:12:00.001-08:00

Today we took Grady to a birthday party at one of those bounce house places. Asher was with me and we went into the building to get Grady settled in for the party. Of course Asher wanted to play on the big blow-up slide. After carrying Asher up the slide multiple times I wanted a break so I suggested the bounce house. Asher was apprehensive, it was a little intimidating to him, I guess. Me, being the good mom, I tried to push him up into it thinking once he tries it he will love it. Asher being the sweet, polite child, also a child that knows absolutely what he does not want to do says, “No, thank you! Not fun!” repetitiously.

I was so blown away with his ability to articulate himself, I gave up and we went down the slide several more times.

He did later gain some confidence and did enjoy the bounce house for a few minutes. I knew I was right!

What would you do?

2009-01-25T00:08:00.001-08:00

Tonight we were fully initiated as scouting parents when we attended Jack’s Pinewood Derby.

Jack’s car is the red one.

We all had a great time Grady and Asher included. Jack didn’t place and we learned some valuable lessons for next year.

As we got home our neighbor was there looking for her son whom she thought had been at our house for the last four hours. Immediately she went to check at some other friend’s house. I didn’t know what to do. So I got my school directory and went to our neighbor’s house. We called the police and everyone we could think of the whole time she was trying to get a hold of her husband. He was at the home of a co-worker for a party, with no cell phone service. In between calling every person in the neighborhood we said a prayer together.

After we could not get a hold of her husband I called Roger he figured out who her husband’s boss was at Microsoft. His boss happens to go to church with us so we called Brad (the boss) and he was able to get the home phone number where the party was happening! So after two hours of realizing and looking for this boy we located his Dad. Who had his son!!!!

What would you do if you thought your child was missing? It was so frightening, any parent’s worst nightmare.

We are safe, today…

2009-01-22T23:01:00.001-08:00

So in talking with several friends today I learned that some are safe today from layoffs at Microsoft and some sadly are scrambling for another position. Finally, hard times have hit our bubble here in the northwest today 1400 people were laid off and another 3600 sometime soon. My prayers are with all the families affected by this!

What is he doing?

2009-01-22T22:38:00.001-08:00

Everything is quiet and I decide to sit down to check my email. All of the sudden I get a sinking feeling, what is Asher doing? it is too quiet. More often than not he is doing something mildly annoying like going through my purse and stealing a pack of gum then unwrapping and chewing every piece of gum in the pack at the same time. Randomly he is doing something really naughty like emptying all the open cereal boxes on the floor or in a bowl in hopes of pouring his own milk before I find him.

Today he was not doing any of these things, he wasn’t painting with my lipstick either. He wasn’t in my closet pulling every article of clothing down and piling it on the floor. He wasn’t stealing candy or cookies after climbing onto the kitchen counters. He wasn’t playing on or in the toilet. He was not dumping all of the dog food into the dog water bowl or drinking out of the water bowl.

He was looking at books!

What a great kid! How did I get so lucky? How did he become so infatuated with books. We have noticed this love for reading and books for awhile now. His first favorite book was Go Dogs, Go by PD Eastman. We could not put him down for a nap or at night without reading it at least once and then he usually wanted to sleep with it. He has discovered several other books now, lately the favorites are Clifford and the Big Itch or The Cat in the Hat.

Our theory is that our kids see us so often curled up with a book in the evenings and weekends that they are drawn to books. Jack is also fast becoming a book worm. We started him with the Spiderwick Chronicles and went to see the movie at the conclusion of the series. Now he is reading the Harry Potter series all by himself and we watch each movie after he completes the corresponding book.

Jack reading Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban

An hour after we sent him to bed, I had to take the book away.

Grady our middle guy gets the shaft sometimes because he is not reading really well yet, he is in kindergarten, so he can’t just read on his own the books he is interested in. Tonight I had the opportunity to sit down with him alone and read a story to him. He wanted to be wrapped in a blanket and sit in my lap just the way Asher gets to every night. I think he thoroughly enjoyed his moment with mom. I plan to make this more of a priority every evening for Grady. He does get read to most evenings usually it is a book within a series (Lord of the Rings, City of Ember, Spiderwick, ect.) that Roger reads to both Jack and Grady. However, I think Grady needs his own time with the books he has chosen.

These are a few of the books the boys are into right now. Asher’s books are on the left with Clifford, Morning Song and a Cars book. While Grady’s books are in the middle Serendipity Collection, Bedtime Stories and Captain Underpants. Jack is to the right with Harry Potter.

Who knows where they get their love of books but I am so glad this is something we all share! Now how do I get them to love cleaning up after themselves?

I did it!!!

2009-01-18T20:46:00.001-08:00

So it only took about 5 minutes but they were determined minutes. I finally had some alone time to figure out how to use the built in web cam on my new laptop. I have never had a webcam. This opens up a world of possibilities. I can already imagine recording a session with my kids like one of the reality tv shows where they go into a room and get to blab about whatever is on their minds. So much fun is in store for the future of this device and I will post the results here… For now here is my picture from the first attempt at a photo capture;-)

Okay so I have many things to work on (lighting, background, how to center).

My Lunch Date

2009-01-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

Okay the highlights of my day were dining on peanut butter and honey sandwiches and later looking at a piano. Asher and Grady accompanied me to Jack's school to have lunch with Jack in his classroom pod. It is very casual we just sit at a little table and eat. Somewhere between the juice box is empty and it is time to go, Grady and Asher are pushing chairs around creating buses and trains then reconfiguring the chairs by stacking them and creating thrones for all three of them. Then I got a message later saying if I wanted a piano it needed a good home, so we are getting a piano! It is old but sturdy. That is exactly what we need until we become a little more civilized around the Fleig household.

Apple Tasting

2009-01-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

1/2/09 We were bored of being stuck in the house [snow] and it was something different to do. I had a bunch of different kinds of apples (pink lady, crisps pink {might be the same as pink lady}, honey crisp, red delicious, organic red delicious, gala, granny smith, and golden delicious). We cut them up and tried each one put a check mark on a sheet next to the ones we liked. It was Jack's idea to put a post-it note next to each kind of apple and he was the official score keeper. Every apple was liked but the favorites were the crisps pink and the honey crisp. Grady's favorite was the Golden Delicious I think, because he ate half the apple by himself. We ate small pieces of cheddar to cleanse our palate between apples and we also had some sliced honey ham. Lunch was done standing at the island eating mostly apples. At the end we made applesauce with the apples left over, it was tasty!

"Have fun Mom"

2009-01-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

I don't think I can express the joy I feel when I hear my child speak. My oldest boys spoke clearly at 18 months and nonstop, that is what all kids do right? Not Asher. We went to his 18 month checkup and the pediatrician asked "So does he have more than 50 words?" Ahhh No he said Mama for everything. When he said Mama it didn't have a meaning it was the only word he said. We started speech therapy last March, a speech therapist came to our home once a week and an educational specialist came once a month. In December 2008 we stopped private speech therapy sessions and started a preschool class with 5 specialist in the room and 11 children in the class. Asher's language is exploding! Today he was leaving with his dad and I called to Asher, "Have fun with Dad!". Asher called back, "Have fun Mom!"! Roger peeked back at me and we smiled. Love that little man.

Zune Bliss

2009-01-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

I just got a new Zune (microsoft's mp3 player). I have had one for a year in a half but shortly after my husband purchased it microsoft came out with a smaller version. So lately neither of us really wanted to carry our Zunes around because it felt like carrying a brick around in my pocket. Well for Christmas I got a much smaller Zune. I cannot wait to go to the gym with this smaller device. I used wear my old device on an armband and it spanned my entire bicep with my new Zune I won't even need an armband because it is small enough to fit in my waistband key pocket.