Adam and his family, muddling through life as always. http://adamandjamie.com/ The weather is amazing, with the only drawback being that I stuff the kids full of Claritin each morning.  It's allergy season for sure.  On the plus side, I felt like little birds would swoop down and braid my hair.  The valley is so pretty this time of year. It's been a pleasant week.  Sam got his midterm grades, assuring me that his C and No Pass were due to missing assignments from when he was sick.  Emma arrived yesterday and helped me make dinner while Joanna went out to a work thing.  Evidently a guy was giving a speech on disaster preparedness, so I think we might be putting a bunker in the basement.  My mom came over and helped immensely with everyone.  Duncan and Berry really like having her around. The kids have all been cheerful and pleasant.  Emma sweetly walked Berry to the bus this morning.  Duncan is excited to play Portal 2 in co-op with me tomorrow morning.  Sam finished his children's book after sinking countless hours into coloring. Tomorrow is Emma's party and sleepover.  Kate and Daniel are coming for the party, and Kate is spending the night.  Duncan, Berry, and Joanna are watching Pinkalicious the play, and Duncan is spending the night at Rob's house.  I'm hoping Emma and I can sneak in some swimming time in between all the activities. Life's good. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8345 Wow, it's been awhile since we've posted anything!  Isabell is all better, and back to her usual antics.  Tomorrow is her schools 5k run/walk, recycled fashion show, talent show, and enchilada dinner.  She'll be participating in everything!Robbie is working hard on the end of year details (only 5 school days left!).  He got a job at a camp near Jemez Spring, and will be gone all of July.  I'm sure Isabell and I can find ways to get into trouble on our own :)I went and bought a 25lb bag of flour and have started baking bread.  It's something I really enjoy, and I've let our friends know that I'll be interested in "trades" (especially with those who have farms and wineries).  I'm still subbing away with the schools, and have two more days scheduled next week, as well as the final Dixon yearbook to get out.  I think we'll all enjoy a nice breather after 5/25, when things can calm down again!    http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=7&PostingID=8344 Hard to believe, but Dorothy turned 94! We've been having a month-long celebration starting May 1 and still continuing. First we went out for dinner at one of Rochester's fanciest restaurants, where it just happens that Ben and Emma know the chef. That resulted in some 'royal' treatment including a few hors d'oeuvres compliments of the chef, which we all loved. Then there was brunch at the house with Ben and Emma complete with champagne Mimosas, French toast, organic homemade sausage, asperagus with hollandais sauce and a faux trifle I just learned to make (layers of berries, crushed gingersnaps, lemon curd and whip creme - don't you wish you'd been here?!) That was followed by dinner with Andy at the Rochester restaurant most famous for it's amazing and extensive selection of desserts (owned by a woman who coincidentally happens to be a dentist). Last night we enjoyed the road show of South Pacific that's in town. It's amazing that every song is a hit and it still feels relevant almost 65 years after opening. But we're not done yet - still have tickets to Cirque de Soleil which is in town at the end of the month. Got to celebrate while you can!     http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=13&PostingID=8342 Emma doesn't normally do a lot of writing, so it was a treat to see what she wrote about her "places in Eugene" project.  This weekend we'll be printing out her paragraphs to go with the photos, and then putting it all on a poster board. Have you ever seen a raptor? Well, at Cascades Raptor Center, they keep injured raptors like ones that have been run over or had their nest cut down during logging, and I went there!  I went with my mom on May 2nd to see many birds of prey, also known as raptors. Once when I went there before I adopted a bird.  Her name is Ravi, and this time I got to see her out of her cage. When we started looking around, I looked in a Golden Eagle's cage and behold, it was taking a bath! Also, when we looked in the corner, there was a nest with eggs.  It was so cool! I did not want to leave, but I had to. That was my experience at the raptor center.   When you go to a restaurant, a giant war horse does not usually greet you, but at P.F. Chang's a giant war horse does, and I saw it! I went to P. F. Chang's at 2:00 on Wednesday with my mom. I went because both me and my mom liked it, and the food. It really was a good place to be. When I walked in it was pretty empty but still a few people were there. The room was filled with music and calming Chinese paintings. When we ordered, we ordered Singapore street noodles, rice, egg drop soup and dumplings.  I ate until I was sick! When it was time to go, we paid, tipped and said good-bye to our waiter.   Do you like shops and locally grown produce? Then you would like Saturday Market! I went there to check it out. I went on April 28th with my step-brother and sister, Duncan and Berry. Also with my real dad. There were shops, live music, and wow! a giant fountain!  Before I went there I was at the library, so we took the car from there.  Then my stomach growled because I was hungry, so my dad bought a giant brownie. On our way back from getting the brownie, a flower shop worker asked if I wanted a flower.  I tried not to be rude and accepted.  After that, Berry was falling asleep so we went back home and that was my trip. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=14&PostingID=8341 Sam had a science thing last night. That's about all I knew about it, but I took him there after dinner and it turns out he was going to do a presentation about earthquakes along with the rest of the class.  They set up displays and models in the gym and various interviewers would come by and grill him about what he knew.  Theoretically he was doing it with two other people, but they didn't show up and so he was forced to do it all himself. He did great.  I evesdropped on his explanations, which were accurate and interesting.  His teacher came by and asked how he was doing all on his own.  Later he admitted to me that the presentation was kind of fun.  I think he enjoyed being so capable. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=6&PostingID=8340 The weekend was pretty busy, with highlights of fun and relaxation along the way. Joanna was pretty slow and sore, still recovering from her back procedure.  She managed some light gardening and expanded our improvised network of hoses.  Berry had moments of grumpiness mixed with sweetness.  Sam was frustrated with the amount of homework he had to do.  Duncan and Emma were consistently happy and cheerful, which I very much appreciated. Saturday morning I bought groceries while Joanna went to TrueValue.  Emma arrived late morning and I immediately leaped into playing with the kids.  First was cracking open a coconut, with everyone getting a sip of the milk.  Then we built a shelter in the back yard out of sticks and an old cloth.  Emma did most of the knot tying, her Coyote Kids class paying off. We ate watermelon in the shade of our shelter and snacked on lunch before retreating to the basement.  All of the kids wanted me to pretend to be a monkey and monster, which involved them hiding in the tent with a flashlight.  I'd alternate between being a monster and a friendly monkey, much to their delight. Eventually I grew weary and we drifted to computers for an hour or two.  Duncan got Portal 2 and has been cheerfully playing all weekend.  Joanna made potato salad sandwiches and we took the kids down to the park to eat and frolick.  They made commercials and had me film them.  We all had a good time, returning home while it was still warm and light. Sunday morning was Mother's Day.  I took everyone to the campus Glenwood to meet my mom, Jenny, Destin, and Jordan.  It was a pretty noisy and frantic, and the day reminded Joanna of her mom's passing, so she opted to go back home.  The rest of us waited for over an hour to get food, but finally sat down and stuffed our starving bellies. I dropped Emma off to spend time with Jamie, returning to play Portal 2 co-op with Duncan.  We had a good time and he's fairly skilled for a six year-old.  Later both kids appeared and Sam and I worked on his project together.  It was pretty grueling, as he has a bunch of drawing for his Children's Literature class.  Hopefully we can get it done in time. The day wrapped up with pizza and Mythbusters, followed by a little Veronica Mars and How I Met Your Mother for the adults and teens. Sam has a science presentation tonight at school, which sadly disrupts our typical boy night.  He's wanting to do more programming, though I'm not sure when we'll manage. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8339 I didn't actually get any mocha last Friday.  It was a rather busy day.  I ran kids around and got them off to school, ran home to make crepes for Sam, who had the day off, drove back to run around the track with Duncan at his jog-a-thon, and finally went to the Neurospine Institute where Joanna was getting her procedure. It ended up taking much longer than we'd expected.  She was out of surgery around 9:30, but it took her quite awhile to wake up after the general anesthetics.  I think we finally made it home around noon, though Joanna was still pretty groggy.  The good news is that her back is feeling fairly good so far, so perhaps she actually had the procedure done (2 in 3 chance) and it did some good. I hung out with Sam while we could.  He's been playing with the Portal 2 construction tool, so I played through the ones he made and offered what advice as I could.  Eventually we all sat down and watched Captain America.  By the end of the show Joanna was ready to move around.  I had to chastise her to be careful as she threw on shorts and let the chickens free in the backyard. Jessica arrived with the kids, who changed into their dance outfits and went off to get their pictures taken.  Upon her return, Jessica promised to make sure Joanna took it easy, and I ran Sam over to Jamie's house. We had a quiet evening of Glee.  Joanna had a hard time sleeping, as she'd slept so much already that day.  I woke up and made crepes for everyone, including some gluten-free ones for Joanna.  The weather is so beautiful that I'm hoping to get outside soon.  Emma should arrive soon and perhaps we can assemble a makeshift fort out of the Camellia branches. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8338 While I couldn't be there because of work, Greg was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated from the Commonwealth Honors College this afternoon. Isn't he the shit? http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=9&PostingID=8337 Last weekend Jamie's stepdad Jim had a retirement celebration at King Estate Winery.  Sam and Emma were out there with their various relatives, apparently making funny faces and running about. Jamie and I got together this morning to talk about the kids and summer schedules.  It was a good, productive talk.  I'm glad things have come along well enough for us to have pleasant conversations about these things.  I appreciate her enthusiasm for the well-being of the kids, and we honestly spent a fair amount of time just talking about how awesome they were. Berry's sick today, or possibly has bad allergies.  Last I saw her, she was playing a Barbie game on the DS in Joanna's office. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8335 We had a pleasant weekend, full of sunny afternoons and running around outside. Poor Berry had a hard time, having gotten vaccinations Friday morning.  The shots themselves were fine, and she enjoyed hanging out with Joanna in the hospital before returning to school.  That night she started throwing up, and went to bed feeling miserable.  Joanna talked to a nurse, and we kept an eye on her for the rest of the weekend.  By Saturday afternoon she was doing pretty well, and by Sunday she was back to her usual self. Our to-do list was mostly sorted out.  I drilled out the lock on the filing cabinet, starting my life of crime.  I pulled the instructions off the Internet and in five minutes had it popped open.  Emma watched, presumably taking notes for future career moves. The kids played well together, and I think Emma really enjoyed having Duncan and Berry around.  They made togas out of material my mom snuck into our house.  Home movies were made.  At one point, they were all playing Sims 3 and helping each other make families and their pets. Sam arrived on Sunday.  We worked more on the game and he finished up his layout for his children's book for school.  I pulled him outside for water balloon madness and catching hula hoops on the swing. Joanna returned from church with pizza in hand and we had an early pizza and Mythbusters to make room for our family dinner.  Joanna whipped up some delicious desserts, including a Tres leches cake that was impossible to resist.  It was also a week before Yayoe's birthday, so we sang her a happy birthday song. Now it's back to the grind.  Joanna has her back procedure this Friday, so I'm expecting a low-key weekend ahead of us.  It's boy's night tonight, and I expect Sam and I will program and watch Tabletop.  Good times.   Oh, and here's a clip of Berry and Duncan's dance routine from last week: http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8334 It's Friday, and a mocha-filled one at that.  I'm feeling surprisingly invigorated after a pretty-draggy mid-week.  It's nice to finally be on the other end, with promises of a 70+ degree weekend ahead of us. Everyone has had a lingering cold of some sort, with Sam still sniffling and Berry coughing.  Berry had her five year-old checkup today, and faced her shots like a trooper.  She does have a constipation issue we're sorting out.  I think she gets some quality bathroom time in the weeks ahead.  Still, I think everyone is on the mend and hopefully this weekend will be relatively free of illness. Sam continues to catch up with school.  Jamie reported grumpy behavior on Wednesday, trying to get through masses of homework.  We were studying Spanish last night and this morning.  With only six weeks to go, I'm hoping we can get him properly caught up.  He's also been working away at his game, making artwork and building levels.  The plan is to make an exploration game, sampling and taking pictures of alien life.  I'm excited to see how it turns out. Wedding plans continue.  Joanna's getting clothes for the kids.  Our rings have arrived.  I'm working through insurance for the event.  Music and food is getting lined up.  It looks like we're having a wide variety of goodies from Sweet Life, sort of a high tea at the park.  We met with the minister to go over vows.  Still, it's been relatively low-key and most of the activities are somewhat fun. I think we'll have a fairly low-key weekend.  I'm stealing the younger kids to make secret projects for Mother's Day.  Emma has her project to work on, printing out pictures from places around Eugene.  She's hitting up everyone she knows to try and sponsor another bird at the raptor center.  Duncan wants to install the tornado Minecraft mod.  Sam wants to work on his game. Life's good. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8333 It was such a nice weekend, full of hanging out in hammocks and watching chickens run around the backyard.  Coming to work was a little jarring in comparison. Friday night Joanna and I had a good night out.  We went to Govinda's for tasty vegetarian food, then took some games to Divine Cupcake for game night.  We had an unbelievably fun time with "Would You Rather".  Joanna's response to "Would you rather be beautiful with an ugly spouse, or ugly with a beautiful spouse" was more insightful than weeks of premarital counseling.  The evening wrapped up with Lego Creationary and watching Glee. I picked up Emma after breakfast and the kids and I all went to the library and Saturday Market.  Berry held on to her Sonic book with a death-grip as we wandered the stalls at the market.  Each kid ran into their current or past French teacher and said bonjour.  We picked up fresh veggies and treats before wandering home. I worked through a fair number of house projects: mowing the lawn, planting potatoes, hanging blinds, putting up photos, and going food shopping with Emma.  I helped Emma climb the cherry tree in the front yard.  We discovered figs on the fig tree.  It was a very pleasant day. Sunday morning the kids and I played in the basement while I worked on laundry.  I think Emma enjoys having younger kids who will go along with her play pretend stories.  I could only manage being a puppy for five minutes or so.  Later I whipped up crepes and dutch babies, which were delicious. Joanna lured the kids to church with promises of Pappa's Pizza afterward.  They stayed for a long while, playing games and winning cheap plastic prizes.  Meanwhile I picked up Sam and we worked on programming efforts.  Mostly we added sound, and he went around recording weird things like clomping around in Joanna's sandals. The afternoon was relatively quiet.  I took Sam for a walk where he chatted away.  I stopped by the park to hang out with everyone else.  Pizza and Mythbusters was enjoyed. This morning all the kids went to school, however reluctantly.  Sam and Emma still sound sniffly, the last of the cold dragging on. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8332 It's been a quirky week of sickness and visits with the principal.  I think we're finally moving towards a normal weekend. Emma was sick for a couple days over the weekend, but managed to get to school on Monday.  Sadly Sam got hit bad and has been out of school all week.  He tried to go Wednesday, but I picked him up and ended up staying home with him the next day too.  I had a couple days of being sniffly and achy, but am feeling pretty good today.  The main challenge will be all the homework he's built up.  I've been e-mailing teachers and trying to get everything collected. Duncan had an issue a couple days ago with another kid at school.  Evidently they heard Duncan laughing, though he was being made fun of, and this other kid punched him.  Duncan, being the kind and gentle soul that he is, went and told a teacher, winning praise from the principal in the process.  Joanna is understandably miffed, and has had both the principal and mother of the kid talk to her.  I think we're going to see if the principal's interventions help, and take appropriate action should it happen again.  Duncan seems fine, and somewhat happy that he's getting praised for his actions. As for everything else in life, I've been working from home and taking care of an occasionally grumpy Sam this week.  Joanna is going in for an experimental back surgery, with a 2 in 3 chance of actually getting the procedure (if she's in the control group, they'll give it to her afterward).  She's also been having stomach issues, switching between acid-supression drugs.  Berry's been a little sniffly, and was a little grumpy last weekend, but seems back to her mostly cheerful self.  Emma was doing impromptu Glee routines when she arrived yesterday, to everyone's amusement. Tonight Joanna and I are going out somewhere.  I'd just like a meal where they don't try to feed me meat. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8331 It's been a strange morning. Sam's sick today, and Emma is getting over a cold.  Emma's off to school, but I let Sam stay.  We finally dropped off all the kids and headed to the courthouse.  There we saw the fascinating process by which the people who robbed our house were sentenced.  It was very formal.  They both pled guilty (or in one case, the plea where you say you're kinda guilty but not guilty).  Each had ten days of jail and probation.  The guy with the longer record had 18 months of prison waiting for him if he broke his probation.  Theoretically they're required to pay restitution, though who knows if we'll see any of it. We also discovered why only Sam's laptop was admissable in court.  It turns out the Florence police didn't get a warrant to search the hotel.  The only admissable evidence is the laptop itself, which had the GPS tracking on it and led to their hotel room.  After sitting through that long process, we wandered over and picked up a marriage license.  That part was far more fun and the woman at the counter was extremely nice.  We stopped by Full City to get a mocha and chai, then wandered in to work quite late. The rest of the weekend was fairly pleasant.  Poor Emma was feeling under the weather, so we didn't make it to the raptor center.  Sam really got into programming, which we did a lot of.  He also ended up being very proactive on his homework and reading, which was great.  Friday night was pizza and Mythbusters.  Saturday we went to Berry and Duncan's dance performance, which was fun.  In the afternoon, Duncan had his friend Rob over and the three younger ones played like crazy monkeys all afternoon. Sunday morning we stuffed everyone full of eggs, bacon, toast, and crepes.  Then Joanna took the younger boys to Rob's house to play and headed to church.  Emma worked on science.  Berry played Minecraft.  Sam programmed.  Eventually Emma, Sam, and I played boardgames until everyone came home.  One of my post-lunch highlights was going down to the park in the gorgeous weather.  Sam, Emma, and I played frisbee and rode Emma's bike.  I think I ended up on it the most, riding through mud puddles and giggling like a teenager. Our new chicken, Goldie, started laying eggs.  We mowed the lawn and ate outside. I'm really excited for Summer.   http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=1&PostingID=8330 Sam's been working on a Java based game for the last few weeks.  I've been providing technical support, but all the art, typing, game ideas, and some programming is all his.  He's incredibly excited about how things are turning out.  As his programming teacher, he's coming along quite nicely.  I no longer have to detail out all the curly braces and variable cases.  He's to the point where he'll say "I want the animation frame to go back to the first when you're not pushing buttons."  He'll add in all the logic and I'll supply the one line to make it happen. I'm quite proud of the boy. http://familyofadam.com/default.aspx?NewsID=6&PostingID=8329