The Rose Family

What more fun can you have on Christmas morning than spending it with three excited boys? Santa definitely knew the boy's interests, stocking the house full of Lego Star Wars, Iron Man and of course a Mr. Incredible bike! Jacob wasn't left out with his pile of toys as well. Grandma and Grandpa Rose shared the paper throwing frenzy experience with us. Of course, the favorite gifts were Grandma's hand-made quilts for Matt and Josh. Those will stay on their beds for years to come.

We decided that this year would be a good year to start some fun traditions, now that the boys can participate in them. As noted before, we made cookies, built a gingerbread house, read Christmas stories on Christmas Eve, got new pajamas and read the Nativity. To top it all off, the missionaries spent Christmas dinner with us, much to Joshua's elation. Thanks, Elders, for bringing your spirit into our home on this special day!

This year, like many other previous years, we got together with old friends for a Christmas dinner and Nativity. It's crazy to think that when it all started, there was one kid (Haley). Now, we've got enough to fill the stable with animals! It was great though. Our Christmas dinner had a wonderful Mexican theme (thanks Paul). We only lacked the mariachi band. We expect that next year...

The nativity was fun... dressing up the kids took three times longer than the show itself, but the kids felt special about it. Oh, check out some of the props: Burger King crowns for the wise men (and girl), golf clubs wrapped in brown paper as shepherd staves and baby Jesus (Jacob) slept in a bouncer/manger. And you can't forget the angel/maid costume. As soon as it was over, Josh asked "Can I be Darth Vader now?"

We missed the Bosleys! Next year, right?

...the goose is getting fat! Please just put a penny in the old, man's hat.

Thank you, Miss Piggy.

During the month of December, we were abuzz with the preparations for Saint Claus. We started off the month visiting the Mesa Temple and the beautiful lights. Family Nights were busy making cookies and a gingerbread house. The boy's had a blast making ornaments and filling our house with handmade, preschool "chotchkies." Jacob got to see Santa himself for the very first time! The boys had visited him before, but that didn't stop them from being the first in line when it was time. Instead of rambling off about what they wanted for Christmas, they were interrogating Mr. Claus as to the health status of his reindeer. If you want details, I can just point to a book that talks about the reindeer having colds...

Ok, so since a lot of friends browse each other's blogs, I figured I'd post up something to see if anyone is interested. The Barney Family Sports Complex (thebfsc.com) has finally opened in Queen Creek and is now taking applications for Friday and Saturday adult hockey leagues. Individual fees are $175, but team fees (9-13 players) is $1500. You'd be paying less if you get a team together and pay the fee as a group. If anyone is interested in forming a roller hockey team to play in the Saturday league, please let me know. They also have volleyball and indoor soccer leagues.

And now back to our regular programming...

That's what dad calls him... oh and also pudgebucket. He's getting pretty big and has got to be one of the most relaxed and pleasant babies to be around (we're not biased or anything). Here are a couple recent pictures of him for all to enjoy!

Some of you may have known that we signed up Matt to play in AYSO soccer this year. The team went without a coach for the first week or so, that's when dad kicked into coach mode and led the U6 Green Dragons to a successful year. Since noone keeps score (although I did count 3 goals for Matt during the season), everyone got trophies at the end. They were all excited. Dad looks forward to coaching again next year when Josh is old enough to play too!

This year, Matthew decided he wanted a birthday party that was all about Legos and Star Wars. So he invited some of his friends over to a Lego Star Wars birthday party. Oh was it so fun! We purchased a big pack of various lego pieces and divvied them up for the eight boys to make their space ships. They got to take home their creations. Dad also went out on the driveway with lots of chalk and drew pictures of the Death Star, various Tie Fighters and the faces of Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Maul. They got to throw water balloons and take out their targets for the good side. To top it all off, mom had the brilliant idea to buy foam swimming noodles and turn them into light sabers. I think that one was the biggest hit with a jedi battle ensuing on our front lawn for about 15 minutes. Needless to say, the kids had a huge blast.

A few months ago, Matt had lightly tossed a rock at the sliding glass door in the backyard. He didn't throw it hard, but it was just enough to shatter the outside pane on the door. So we were left with the inside pane while we looked for an inexpensive way to replace the glass on the outside.

Well...... I was out moving the lawn on Saturday. And as you are probably already guessing, the weed eater threw a rock right through the second glass pane, shattering it completely. So I spent the rest of my Saturday cleaning it up and taping cardboard to the door to keep the bugs and heat out. It didn't really work. So Saturday night was spent at Home depot. Did you know that you can't just replace the glass on those doors? No! You have to get an entirely new door... and not just the door, but the frame too! So I had to buy a whole new door. I finally got home at about 9:30PM Saturday night.

Sunday came around. The ox was in the mire because it had reached 90 degrees inside the house and it was only slightly hotter outside. The boys were drenched from napping in rediculously hot rooms. At that point I decided we had better just get it done even if it was Sunday. So Jamey and I spent two and a half hours ripping out the existing door and put the new one in. Now we have some nice french doors instead of the standard sliding glass. Take a look at the surgery below.

 

 

The temptation was too great. Maybe it was the super-cool ability to be a rock star. Maybe it was the screaming of the crowd as we danced and rocked our way through Muse, The Ramones, Foo Fighters, Disturbed and others. Whatever it was, we gave in. Yes, the Roses have acquired Rock Band for the Wii and have been playing it nonstop. That game is an absolute blast to play. Rebekah took some pictures of us unpacking it and plugging it into our new TV (yes, we had to get a new TV too). I'll be posting the pictures when I get home tonight. So watch out Howards and Gilberts! A Flock of Roses will be playing Expert and rocking your world soon!

So it was pretty much a normal Monday... dragging my feet into work and wishing the weekend was longer. We had a pretty decent-sized storm roll through the Phoenix area but we didn't get much of it out in Queen Creek. Tempe, however, must have bore the brunt of it. As I drove in the parking lot, quite a bit of it was under water and several trees were down. No biggie, I thought. Storms almost always flood things here. Then I walked back to my desk. The ceiling had collapsed right over my desk and two others. Mine was in the middle of the three (what luck). You can see it in the first picture, the desk right in front of the window. Everything was drenched and covered in drywall... my books, my computer, basically anything that was left out in the open. Luckily nothing inside the desk got wet. So I thought I would share my Monday experience with you all. Happy Monday!



This is what it looked like before...

He has arrived! Jacob Douglas Rose was born July 2, 2008 at 9:07PM, weighing 6lbs 12oz and was 18 inches long.

Rebekah went to the doctor yesterday for a check up. Her doctor said she could feel a hand, so she was sent to the hospital immediately. They wanted to do an ultrasound to see if he was in the wrong position. If he was, and her water broke, she would have needed an emergency c-section. So she got to the hospital and they did an ultrasound. Jacob was just scratching his head apparently, because he was set and ready to go. They checked her in and no more than 5 mins after they hooked her up the contractions started. Her water broke at about 8PM, the epidural was applied at about 8:30 and she was pushing 10-15 mins later.

Jacob is so peaceful. He hardly cried, only when he got his bath. He's just adorable and has got his hands full with his two older brothers. There are more pictures on our Flickr Photo Gallery.

With the clock ticking down, I managed to get the last bid in on a new Nintendo Wii with 4 seconds left on eBay. So now we are a Wii family. We're all excited. Matt and Josh are going to have a blast playing it. It's being shipped out from Illinois and should get here Monday. FHE will be fun.

So yeah, the first round of dental work is over. I spent two days with that nervous pit in my stomach, just knowing I was getting an emergency root canal. Tooth #18 (very back-bottom molar on the left) had become abscessed and it needed work. The tooth itself broke back in August, but since I dread the dentist, I never went... until it finally became unbearable. I knew I had a big problem when the numbing tooth gel I bought at the pharmacy didn't do a thing.

I was sent to a specialist for the work, and I was REALLY impressed by the office. The staff was great and the endontologist was very good at what he did. I needed three novacaine shots and some smaller shots right around the tooth itself. He ended up pulling out three roots and put me on antibiotics and vicodine. I was pretty fuzzed up the rest of the afternoon.

So part one is done. I need to go in again to get the opposite molar (#31 on the right-bottom side) worked on as well. There's a 50/50 chance it might need a root canal too, but the dentist thinks he can do enough to keep that from happening. You'd think I was chewing on gravel or something.

So can I say that I absolutely hate the dentist?

So I went out fertilizing the grass yesterday and, well, a dog just decided to show up to join in on the fun. I called the troops out of the house and it was like an early Christmas for them. They got to play with the dog for awhile before we went out to run errands. She was such a friendly dog and was very good with the kids. So I grabbed the camera and clicked away...

The 7 month milestone is here and we thought we'd post the growing belly to prove that there really is a #3... another boy. This house is full of boys. Dad appreciates that... and Mom enjoys being the only girl because that means she gets to be the favorite girl in the house. So here's our woman at the 7 month milestone!

So, normally you wake up early in the morning and discover that your house has been invaded by tiny little eggs hidden in all sorts of places. Some of which go unseen after a few months. That was not the case here at the Rose Garden. Someone must have forgotten to tell him that Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time, and he showed up a little early. However, it appears that this year he did it on purpose. Two little flashlights were somehow slipped into Dad's pockets while he was in the garage. The flashlights were dispersed to two, beaming boys and a nighttime hunt commenced. A few minutes later, baskets were filled with cool eggs that glowed in the dark as well as Batman and Spiderman eggs. Take a look at the loot!

Two weeks ago we received a letter from the HOA, simply stating "Paint the wall." We decided to go overboard and paint MORE than just the wall... we painted the driveway too... take a look!