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Well, Jamie returned empty-handed
October 31, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Well, Jamie returned empty-handed. I think the pricing of the things she was interested in was a bit too rich for her blood. We were happy to have her back today, especially as she fixed up some tasty dutch babies for breakfast this morning.
It was our typical madhouse Sunday. We went of to Costco to load up on way too much cereal. I swear, I could fill the cart with cereal and be done with it in a month. Afterwards we headed home to try and get Emma down for a nap. Many hours later she finally did, though it took awhile. Sam and I played on the computer for a bit too long, and played pretend in the basement. Jamie and I got to actually exchange a few complete sentences over lunch.
The big excitement of the day came at four o'clock. We had some new neighbors move in a couple houses up the street. They invited a ton of kids and their parents and threw an amazing party. There were gunny-sack races, bobbing for apples, a treasure hunt, and a really scary haunted house. I met a bunch of people, including running into an old friend from high school. The kids both had a great time, even Sam who was mesmerized by the haunted house.
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Jamie went off to Portland with Pat and his a...
October 29, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Jamie went off to Portland with Pat and his aunt, looking for antiques. She left before the kids were fully up, so I've gotten a taste of her life these last few hours. Emma's still a bit sick and I've been battling a headache off and on. Fortunately my mom agreed to share our morning adventures.
We first went to Humble Bagel to stock up on goodies for the day. Then it was off to the farm to wander around a muddy pumpkin patch, returning home with a couple pumpkins to carve up this evening. After dropping off my mom, we took a quick library trip and returned home to enjoy our ill-gotten booty.
The kids are watching DVDs and I'm enjoying a few minutes of downtime. I suspect that soon enough we'll start in on the pumpkins and get dinner ready. Hopefully Jamie will be home before nightfall.
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Mocha Friday already
October 28, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday already. Yesterday was a little rough. Poor Jamie was clearly pretty sick and the kids were both a bit grumpy. We'll see if I stay at home the whole day or if I'm called home to assist. Sam doesn't have school today, making things even more challenging for my poor wife.
It's strange thinking we have a weekend right around the corner. I suspect we'll try to take it easy as much as possible. We have one Halloween party Sunday night, but that's about it. I still have no idea what I want to dress up as. I'd love to be a pirate, but just don't have the clothes for it.
Sam continues to do well with school. His handwriting is better than mine and his speed is slowly improving. He's gotten 100% on all his spelling tests and does quite well in math. I think the only thing that's "average" is his reading, so we're trying to spend a little more time having him read to us.
Emma continues to grow up. She can now get into nearly everything below five feet off the floor, using stools and ingenuity. Leaving her alone for long periods of time usually results in items being carefully taken apart or moved to strange locations.
Ah, life.
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Everyone seems to have come down with a cold,...
October 27, 2005 by Adam in Family
Everyone seems to have come down with a cold, though Emma and Jamie were hit the hardest. Jamie's been wanting to simply curl up in front of the fireplace with tea. Emma is cranky and telling people "I have a sick nose."
We're getting ready for Halloween, already invited to several parties. I have no idea what I'm going to dress up as. I may just print out some Star Wars masks and make Sam happy.
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Everyone arrived safe and sound last night
October 25, 2005 by Adam in Family
Everyone arrived safe and sound last night. Emma's got a cold, so she's been sleeping strangely. I had her for a couple hours this morning, starting at 4:30, so I'm still a little groggy.
Our car is finally getting repaired. We have a new shiny Camry with only 800 miles on it, which is a little weird. Jamie's trying hard to keep the kids from getting it dirty, which seems a futile task.
I also had three blissful hours to myself yesterday morning while Sam was at work. It was mostly in front of my computer playing games, but it was odd to have such a quiet house. It's nice to have everyone back, though.
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I need to wake up Sam in a few minutes and ta...
October 24, 2005 by Adam in Family
 I need to wake up Sam in a few minutes and take him to school. I'm off from work today, helping coordinate the endless little things that are going on.
On Sunday Sam and I went to Fred Meyers, picking up groceries and some new workout clothes for myself. Sam entertained himself by pretending certain tile colors were lava, traps, or other dangers. The entire setup was explained to the check out woman on our way out.
 We made rice krispies and decided to make a mask for Sam. I had accidentally discovered some plaster bandages in Jamie's closet (I'm not sure if I want to ask). Soon enough, I had greased up his face with Vaseline and was applying bandages. Getting it off was a bit uncomfortable, but he thinks it's pretty cool.
It was off to his soccer game after that. He managed to score a goal, though I'm not sure his technique was something he learned at practice. I think it involved holding hands with an opponent and practically sitting on the ball, somehow popping it over the goal lines. It was admittedly hard to follow. Afterwards was the traditional pizza party and handing out of medals. As you might expect, it was over the top, six year olds raising the noise level to that of jack hammers and jet planes.
We headed home where I was pretty beat. There was mask painting and the normal bedtime ritual. Towards the end I think Sam and I were both pretty exhausted.
Ah, well. Jamie arrives home today. Can't wait.
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The first day of boy's weekend has come to a ...
October 23, 2005 by Adam in Family
 The first day of boy's weekend has come to a close. The day was full, sending Jamie and Emma off to Eagle Crest. It sounds like they made it over just fine and are having a good time. Sam and I fiddled with the computer a bit, ate some lunch, and headed off to Spencer's Butte.
The hike up was great, with beautiful weather and friendly hikers. The view was great, far above the haze of the valley. We returned, tired, and settled down for a little old school Invisible Man in black and white. We worked in some play time, some cooperative computer gaming, and a little hamburger for dinner. Good times.
It took him a little while to get to sleep. I think he was missing Jamie and Emma, but then again so do I.
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Mocha Friday, and a busy one at that
October 21, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday, and a busy one at that. I'm returning to work after two days of training, which means that various crises have piled up while I was unavailable. Now I'm trying to figure out where to even start. Ah, well, I'm sure I'll survive.
This weekend should be an odd one with Jamie and Emma gone. Hopefully Sam and I can spend some solid time together as it seems that Emma takes most of my attention when I'm watching both of them.
We had our last soccer practice last night. The adults played against the kids and everyone had a great time. Emma spent much of the time at the school's playground where some older girls became enamored of her. They kept wanting to pick her up and help her move around the play structure. Emma was joyous if a little overwhelmed. I made sure they didn't treat her too much like a doll.
I woke up late this morning, with Jamie asking if I was feeling okay and informing me of the time. I've started getting a throat thing, which is a little annoying. Tis the season for non-stop illnesses, I suppose.
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Sunday came and went
October 17, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Sunday came and went. It was a fairly good day, starting off with me sneaking out to Metropol bakery to pick up some tasty pastries and bread fresh from the oven. Emma couldn't stop eating the french bread, nor could I.
Jamie went off to see my mom and do some shopping while the kids and I walked down to the library. It's always a challenge to move them from point A to point B, but they were generally in a good mood. Sam returned with a bunch of comic books and some easy readers for him to work on when he goes to bed. There's a particular style of book that has short funny stories in it that he really enjoys.
I spent a good hour or two continuing to scrape away the paint from our bathroom medicine cabinet. Stripping paint is tedious work, and my arms and back were sore the next day. I'm still not done, though. I predict more scraping and sanding in my near future.
Here's a picture from when Emma came to visit me last week. We often come up and chat briefly with my coworkers. It's funny when she says the word "cubicle".
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It's Sunday morning in the Miller household, ...
October 16, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It's Sunday morning in the Miller household, though most everyone is still asleep. Yesterday was fairly busy, considering we didn't have much in the way of plans.
But first, my mom arrived safe and sound from her grand tour of Europe. She returned with an armload of exotic gifts, including a nice suede jacket for yours truly. It's nice having her around again.
Sam had a soccer game first thing in the morning. Emma and I mostly played on the playground, though we managed to watch Sam a bit. He's playing fairly well, and scored at least one goal while we were watching.
After returning home for lunch, we ran off to see Wallace and Gromit, Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was the first time Emma had ever been to a movie theater and she was wide-eyed the whole time, even though she was exhausted. The movie itself was great fun, classic Wallace and Gromit, with plenty of amusing little parts for adults.
The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I tried entertaining kids as best I could. Graham came over to play with Sam for a couple hours. Emma and I broke out kitchen chemicals and made science experiments. Somewhere in there I worked on stripping the paint from the medicine cabinet.
As for today, there's another soccer game, but not much else. We'll see how we manage to fill the hours.
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Mocha Friday
October 14, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Mocha Friday. Woke up late. More in a bit . . .
Okay, I'm at work and appropriately caffinated. Jamie drank pop yesterday evening, and so when I came to bed at ten o'clock, she was still very chatty. I must have finally fallen asleep around eleven and ended up waking up at seven in the morning. Since that's when I'm usually at work, I rushed through my routine and zipped into work.
Sam had soccer practice last night, which he still seems to enjoy. I think he likes hanging out with the other boys, especially his friends Jake and John. Emma goes along with it all. Last night she was digging in the dirt and following Natalie around, helping with the house they were building for bugs.
There's a variety of projects that await me this weekend. Jamie's been stripping paint off the bathroom medicine cabinet. I think there's about ten layers of history under there. Maybe we can buy a new mattress this weekend too, though the cost is pretty steep for what we want. Ah, rest for the weary - looking forward to that one.
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Thursday already
October 13, 2005 by Adam in Family
Thursday already. My how the week has flown by.
Emma's much better, her usual chatty self. So far, no one else seems to have gotten sick, though newly superstitious Jamie would throw salt over her shoulder and give me the evil eye for saying that. I had her at work this morning and she charmed everyone at the bagel store, dancing to the rap music they were playing over the speaker system.
I'm not quite sure what's going on this weekend. I'd like to spend some time with Jamie if I can, as next weekend it'll just be Sam and I. A boy's weekend sounds fun, though hopefully we can remember to bathe and eat things more complicated than mac and cheese.
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Poor Emma has had a fever for a long while now
October 11, 2005 by Adam in Family
Poor Emma has had a fever for a long while now. She doesn't seem in too much pain, which is good. Instead, she tiredly lays on the couch or asks to be held. She's also very hot and sensitive. Jamie hasn't been sleeping much and even I was up a fair amount last night, getting Tylenol or rubbing her belly. Poor girl.
Jamie and I managed to get out for a little bit last night. I'd lined up Dave and Kirsten while we went to Anatolia for Greek food. It was quite tasty and Jamie and I actually got to talk about grown-up things, such as politics and avian flu. It helped to know that Emma was in the hands of trained medical professionals, though I fretted about her still.
Sam continues to amaze and impress with his school work. He's gotten 100 percent on every spelling test and his writing is great. Smart kid.
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The weekend is coming to a close
October 10, 2005 by Adam in Family
 The weekend is coming to a close. It was a fairly exciting day, with Jamie away in Portland for most of the day, shopping with Victoria. Fortunately the kids were pretty good and there was enough to do to keep everyone entertained.
We went to the the library this morning. Sam made friends with a four-year-old girl named Chloe. Emma played for a long while with puppets while I gathered up a bunch of kid books. They let me get a couple books for myself, and then we headed home.
After lunch, I tried putting Emma down for a nap, but she was having none of it. We headed off to Sam's soccer game where we played with Seraph, Isabell, and Robie. Sam did well, scoring two goals, and we headed home for a quiet afternoon. Emma fell asleep in the car and I carefully tucked her into bed.
Sam started feeling a little sick, mostly a headache, so he took it easy and watched some DVDs from the library. Emma helped me make pizza and Jamie arrived soon after dinner, loaded with clothes. Now it's time to start the bedtime ritual and get these kids to bed.
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I should be in bed by now, but the afternoon ...
October 09, 2005 by Adam in Family
 I should be in bed by now, but the afternoon tea has me still perky. It was a rather odd day and I was admittedly in a bad mood for much of it. For whatever reason I got up on the wrong side of the bed and it took until the afternoon to shake it off.
After breakfast, we went shopping at Fred Meyers and then went to Sam's soccer game. Emma was getting pretty exhausted by the end of it, actually trying to bite me as she screamed that she hated me. Fortunately she was an absolute darling after she woke up from her nap and we spend a wonderful afternoon together. We went to the park, colored, and played with playdough.
While that was going on, Jamie and Sam went to a birthday party for one of the soccer kids. Evidently it was an amazing party with a Star Wars theme. Sam returned with a Darth Vader mask, a functioning lightsaber, a hand made droid constructed from various metal parts, a padawan hair tail thingie, and assorted stickers and pencils. The parents dressed up as Chewbacca and Princess Leia. At one point, the dad dressed as Darth Vader and the kids threw shaving cream filled pies at him.
Pretty much every future birthday party we throw for Sam will, by comparison, completely suck.
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It's a quiet Fall Friday, my weekly mocha per...
October 07, 2005 by Adam in Family
 It's a quiet Fall Friday, my weekly mocha perking me up.
Last night Jamie went off to go shopping with Pat while the kids and I went to Sam's soccer practice. Sam had a good time as usual, getting fairly tuckered out. Emma spent a long time playing with a worm and visiting with the other kids.
Last night was a little rough, with Emma crawling into bed with us sometime in the wee hours. Sam was up early as well, with a bloody nose that kept Jamie running about. I had been kicked out to the guest bedroom by then, so I got a few sarcastic comments about my relative worth as a parent come morning time. From a place of love, of course.
Tonight it's off to dinner at my dad and Yayoe's, seeing Dorothy during her visit. Tomorrow is another soccer game and then I have the kids to myself on Sunday. I'm tempted to see the new Wallace and Gromit movie, which I hear great things about.
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The week has slowly moved along
October 05, 2005 by Adam in Family
 The week has slowly moved along. Emma came to visit me at work while Jamie went to the gym. We had a lovely time at the bagel store and Emma somehow charmed her way into being given a stuffed toy dog. It was soccer practice after work, so the kids and I headed to Sam's school. Emma dug in the dirt while Sam ran around like a maniac.
Work had a somewhat amusing crisis, so I dropped everything and worked on an odd project for most of the day. It was fun watching the requirements for my project change every fifteen minutes, as well as giving regular updates to my director. I'm a sucker for saving the day, so it was nice to get something that people could poke at by the time I headed home.
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We made an ice cream run last night
October 03, 2005 by Adam in Family
 We made an ice cream run last night. Both kids did reasonable well getting the ice cream into their mouths and not their clothes. Emma in particular has turned into quite the talented ice cream eater, methodically licking drips and rotating as needed.
Yesterday's soccer game went well, though the opposing team was pretty good and Sam didn't score any goals. Emma and I spent a lot of time on the playground, climbing on the various play structures. The kids returned home soggy but happy.
It was a typical Sunday evening, full of dinner, baths, and playing in the basement. Emma was pretty worn out by the end of the day, as she decided that naps were for the weak. Sam roped me into an involved game using pen and paper, drawing little stick figures that engaged in epic combat.
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Well, it's officially Fall
October 02, 2005 by Adam in Family
 Well, it's officially Fall. It's been wet and rainy all weekend. So far, the kids seem to be enjoying it, especially Emma who's been running around with her kitty umbrella. I don't mind so much, as it means I don't have to water all our plants each night.
Saturday morning was spent finishing up some painting and entertaining the kids. In the afternoon we headed over to Sam's soccer game where he made three goals and played really well. Emma spent her time fiddling with the controls of the car and running around the playground.
Afterwards, Sam, my dad, and I all went to see Serenity, the movie continuation of the canceled Firefly show. It was lots of fun, with witty dialog, exciting action scenes, and a few poignant moments. Afterwards we all went out to dinner at the Glenwood where Emma played endlessly with Grandpa Lohring.
Today was another morning hanging out with the kids while Jamie went for a walk with Angie. They were in a pretty good mood and we wandered around outside having fun in the soggy weather. After Jamie's return, we cooked up various meals, helped Sam practice his homework, and put the cabinets back together in Jamie's bedroom.
Soon we're off to Sam's second soccer game of the day. Hopefully we can take it easy after that.
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