A Tribute To My Favorite 1st Grader

I HEART DALLAS

Huge week in the Luchini household. Dallas started first grade. I can't believe it! A few weeks ago I made the mistake of doing the math: he gets up at 7:15am, gets on the bus around 8:30am, gets dropped off again around 4:15pm, and is in bed by 8:00pm. Let's see... that gives me a whopping 5 hours a day with my first born, less than 4 hours on the nights he has football practice. It doesn't seem right! I miss him all day long - and luckily he seems completely unaffected by my attachment issues. He's really enjoying first grade. There are a total of 5 first grade classes at Prospect Elementary, and while I'm sure they are all terrific teachers, Dallas got the best of the bunch. Ms. Kistler is the friendliest, warmest, most compassionate teacher - who loves her job. She's been teaching for 15 years and has only taught first grade because it's the BEST!!! (I speak from experience!)

A good friend suggested I take Dallas on a "1st Grade Date" before school started and I'm sure glad I was able to squeeze it in late last week. I dropped Luke off at Aunt Mimi's and told Dallas the day was his. He chose to have lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant, then we wandered over to a paint-your-own ceramics studio called "Artist for a Day." Dallas and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves while we painted. He chose 2 ceramic figures to paint - Patrick Star from Spongebob and a Transformer/robot looking guy. I picked a cute little plate and we got right to work. It was so much fun to just sit back and enjoy Dallas; something I don't do often enough. He is such a wonderful little person. Several times during our painting session he got up and danced to the music being piped over our heads. Not dancing for an audience or for attention, just because he felt moved to do so. I loved it.

Over the course of the day I tried to ask Dallas a few questions, knowing I'd want to capture this special time in his life. Here is a few of the questions and Dallas' responses:

1. What is your favorite tv show?

How It's Made

Smash Lab

Myth Busters

Spongebob

2. What is your favorite movie? (This was so funny. He replied, "...that I've seen or that I haven't seen?")

That he's seen: Planet Earth

That he hasn't seen: Batman The Dark Knight

3. Where do you want to go to college?

San Francisco

Why San Francisco?

Because they have fancy restaurants.

4. Who is your best friend?

Bailee

Madeline

Evan

Bo

Calvin

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?

No idea.

6. Favorite food?

"Breakfast of Champions" (hashbrowns w/ cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream, and 3 links of turkey sausage.)

I can't wait to discover what the future holds for my sweet little man. It really seems like just yesterday I was 41 weeks pregnant during the hottest June on record. Excited and terrified at the same time. Completely unaware of whether it was "Dallas" or "Molly" in my belly - and even more naive about how my life would be forever better, brighter, happier, sometimes sadder, but undoubtedly more meaningful the moment I looked into the eyes of my beautifully perfect son.

Here's to Dallas - the best, brightest, handsomest first grader there ever was!

xoxo

8 * 14 * 08

Happy Anniversary Tony!
Nine years ago today I made you the

happiest man in the world. :)
Thanks for choosing me.

Up....Up....and AWAY!!!!!!!!

Tahoe Homes has just one house left in our neighborhood to sell...and today they brought out the big guns, or rather, the BIG BALLOON, to get that done. Tony was in charge of inflating and securing this gigantic red balloon above the available home. Of course he received a little help from his 2 favorite assistants who chanted, "Go Dad! Go Dad! Go Dad!"... as the balloon got bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER! I won't lie to you, it got a little scary toward the end. I was wishing we all had protective eye wear just in case. But no worries, it went up without a hitch.

From the mouths of babes...

One of the primary reasons I created this blog was for the opportunity to capture some of our favorite moments as parents. For years I have called Tony at work and said, "Do you have time for a quick story? You won't believe what Luke just said..."

Each time I share a story Tony will say, "You need to write that down." Of course I never write anything down, and the story fades to memory, soon to be forgotten.

But now thanks to Al Gore and that amazing thing called "the Internet," the stories of my boys will live on forever....

This afternoon I had the pleasure of dropping Dallas of at his friend Calvin's for a play date - providing me w/ an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Luke Anthony. A few minutes ago he snuggled up to me on my lap and leaned his face into mine. He's always been my snugly one. We sat in silence for several moments while I took in the wonderful smell of his stinky nap-breath, his scrawny tattoo-wielding biceps, knowing that before long he won't want to climb on my lap anymore, won't need to gently press his face against mine. I quietly whispered to him, "I love you with all of my heart, you know."

And he quietly replied, "Shit yeah."

"She's like this thing, with love in all her cracks." - Dallas

Today we are babysitting baby Claire - who has her Luchini cousins wrapped tightly around her precious little finger.

The Great Flood of '08

We survived!
(And then we bathed!)

Las Cruces - Summer '08

Life is good

We had a wonderful time in Las Cruces with Grandad, Tami, and Uncle Levi. The boys were not excited about coming home and would have gladly stayed behind if allowed. Who can blame them? Tami was such an amazing host; she planned activities for the boys that will live on in infamy. They built and launched rockets, experimented w/ Mentos and diet soda, went on snake/tarantula/lizard/scorpion hunts, swam, held badminton tournaments, and ate strawberry Pop-Tarts for breakfast every morning. Tony and I are extremely grateful for the experience she, Grandad, and Levi provided our boys. I wonder if we can talk her into hosting a "Camp Tami" every summer.

Good Morning to you, too!

If you love spiders as much as I do, you'll LOVE this post. The boys came blasting into our room this morning telling us they were "going on a tarantula hunt" with Tami. Ha ha, very cute boys. They said Tami already caught one this morning.... wanted us to come and see. I figured they were just using their imagination - maybe she caught a large Daddy Long-leg, or possibly a cockroach. No such luck. She opened the front door this morning and found this little beauty wedged between the front door and the screen door, trying to get inside the house and wish us a good morning. Startled, she gently kicked the cute little bugger and unfortunately it did not survive the confrontation.

Hee hee, joke's on me, the strange little city girl never knew that tarantulas are "desert dwellers" that come out "only when it rains." WTF???? Seriously. It has rained every blankety-blank day since we got to this God-forsaken town. And you are just now telling me that "they only come out when it rains." Not cool.

I mustered all the courage I possess to take this photo for all of you. The first photo I took didn't turn out well as the spider was "resting" in the cute little bug catcher Levi made when he was 12; so Tami gently shook it out onto the sidewalk for a better shot. I wasn't prepared for the involuntary spasm my body went though, and ended up pulling a muscle in my side; but I'm okay. So here it is. Good morning to all of you from me.

Julie, Megan, and Allison: next time any of you see mom, please show her this picture and thank her for not raising us in the desert.

Las Cruces, NM

We are having a terrific time showing our boys around Tony's old stompin' ground. We are staying in the house he grew up in, and riding motorcycles in the same desert he tore up 25 years ago. Tony's Grandad owned an electric company, Luchini Electric, for years and years - and this is a photo of one of the Luchini Electric trucks. His Grandad was a "collector" of "things"... which is a nice way of saying he never got rid of anything. There's a fleet of boom trucks, ladder trucks, an old Winnebago, a really old dairy truck (I'm trying to convince Tony to bring it home w/ us. It would make the cutest ice cream truck!!!)and even an old school bus. Never a shortage of things to do or fix. Every little boy's dream.
How's the weather in Las Cruces? I'm glad you asked. We've had a record rainfall since landing on Tuesday afternoon. Today it rained 2.9". Ask me what happens when it rains in the desert??? Everything washes away! I'm fascinated by the arroyos, and the people who build houses in the middle of them. Interesting. I'll see if I can snap a few pictures so you get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Vacation!!!

Boise Airport 6:00am
waiting...waiting...waiting...
What's up Oakland???
Checking out Grandad's well
Luke and Blueberry

On Tuesday morning we left for Las Cruces, New Mexico, to visit Tony's family. It was Luke's first flight and first trip to the desert... and the boys were extremely excited to get the show on the road!

Blogging Rocks!

I'm having so much fun blogging - I just don't care much for the word "blog." I might have to think of something else to call it.
We had such a blast on the 4th. This year our neighborhood association put together a party for the homeowners in the hood. It was a HUGE success - largely because of our wonderful neighbors Beth and Tyler Rountree. They are the parents of Madeline and Thomas, whom my boys love and can't get enough of. Beth helped the kids make those awesome tye-dyed t-shirts, and Tyler is the most famous Captain in the Meridian Fire Department. At least in our eyes. Engine #303 is the BOMB! Not a Drain-O bomb, which I now know how to make thanks to the guys at the station. :) Tyler was on duty on the 4th and arranged to bring the truck by to lead our bike parade. I'm telling you it doesn't get any cooler than that. The boys and I (plus a few neighbors) spent some time decorating bikes before the parade - and as all of the kids started lining up behind the fire truck I realized I couldn't find Luke anywhere.....someone finally realized Luke was riding shotgun inside the fire truck! Can you imagine? He was literally grinning from ear to ear. I'll never forget the look on his face. What an outstanding experience for the Luchini brothers.
After the bike parade we all met in the park area and bbq'd while the kids went crazy on a couple of slip n' slides. When it got dark we moved to the streets and watched different families set off their fireworks. It was a wonderful night!

God Bless America!!

June 2008!

Ta-Da!

I have been inspired by family and friends to join the world of blogging. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?