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The week moves along
August 31, 2004 by Adam in Family
The week moves along. Yesterday the sewer pump was fixed, so all the downstairs plumbing worked again. Jamie cleaned my dirt-encrusted shower without any prompting, which I am very grateful for. Unfortunately all is not perfect yet again. One of the washing machine hoses seems to be leaking, so that's on our list to fix next.
Every night before dinner, I've got to come up with a clever way to distract the kids as Jamie wants them nowhere near the kitchen. Anything involving mud, sand, or water is a surefire hit, so we broke out the chalk and watering can. Within a minute, Emma was laying in a puddle of chalky water, splashing and laughing. Sam had decided that brown chalk makes great looking blood when mixed in the water. Needless to say it took awhile to hose everyone down and both kids ate dinner in the buff.
Jamie did her normal gym workout today, so I had both kids for awhile. Emma wanted to run around a lot and Sam got pretty tired of walking around towards the end. I can't wait for the museum of Art to open on campus, as that's sure to be a favorite destiation for our explorations.
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The day seemed long, with many events going on
August 30, 2004 by Adam in Family
 The day seemed long, with many events going on. We had a good breakfast and I had a chance to try out the jam I made yesterday. Quite tasty. Afterwards we helped tidy up the garage area, hanging pegboard and other organizational goodies. After that, the kids and I went to Fred Meyer while dropping Jamie off to help Victoria paint her new house. We had a quick pirate-themed lunch, then Sam and I went off to Parker's birthday party.
Upon our return, we found Jamie had done a good job rearranging the basement. I discovered I had all sorts of tools that I hadn't seen in years. The rest of the evening is a blur of kid watching. There were some memorable moments involving a treasure hunt, as well as the nude sandbox hour. We finally got them to bed and I had a brief break before I spent some frustrating moments trying to fix my mom's laptop.
At the moment, I'm exhausted and looking forward to sweet, sweet sleep.
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It was a really nice day, though I'm not quit...
August 28, 2004 by Adam in Family
 It was a really nice day, though I'm not quite sure why. We had a whirlwind canning session, making two batches of Ginger Pear Marmalade. I tried a little and it tastes really good. Everyone else can expect to get some for Christmas, I'm sure.
The kids and I played a bunch, with Jamie going to help Victoria move for awhile. I picked up a bunch of good books at the library as well as some tasty Metropol bread.
My mom should be over for dinner shortly. Time for me to run off and watch the kids. Sam's been playing with Emma a bit too long, though they've actually had a really good time together.
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I was welcomed home Friday afternoon by a flo...
August 28, 2004 by Adam in Family
I was welcomed home Friday afternoon by a flooded basement. Now, it's rarely boring in our little household, but periodically events seem to come about that makes things even more exciting. Sam in particular was thrilled, hoping he could don scuba gear and swim about in our basement.
It wasn't as bad as some of our previous floods. It turns out the supposedly lifetime pump died on us and won't be fixed until Monday. Fortunately the upstairs drains work just fine, so the only real hardship we have is not being able to do laundry this weekend. Shucks.
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Mocha Friday
August 27, 2004 by Adam in Family
Mocha Friday. Mmm.
I had a pleasant surprise this morning with my DSL connection finally got upgraded to something much zippier. It also seems that mushrooms popped up in our garden overnight, probably due to all the recent rain. I don't think the two are connected, but you never can tell.
I think Sam and I are going to try to join my family for the Labor Day weekend camping trip, at least for one night. Hopefully he won't get too wonky and instead it will be a grand adventure.
Nothing too exciting is planned for this weekend. We've got a birthday party for Sam on Sunday and Jamie wants to help Victoria move. I think a library trip will happen somewhere in there too.
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I just got permission to post the picture fro...
August 25, 2004 by Adam in Family
 I just got permission to post the picture from Saturday's photo shoot. Give it a click to see it in its full glory.
I broke out my rain gear for the first time in months, though the morning drizzle wasn't too bad. It's nice not to have to water the tomatoes quite so diligently.
For all the people who like gossip, I heard that Kai is expecting a child. Kai is a childhood friend of Seraph's and now lives in Portland with her husband. I remember when she was knee high to a grasshopper. Man do I feel old.
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It was a fairly quiet day
August 25, 2004 by Adam in Family
 It was a fairly quiet day. I felt a little sick off and on, mostly in the evening. The kids are a little fussy and Jamie reported headaches, so I guess we're not completely better yet.
I had the kids for an hour or so during work. We hiked over to the graveyard on campus, which is one of Sam's favorite spots to visit. He really wanted to find a secret entrance, to where he didn't say. Emma practiced her words, such as "statue". We also popped in to the library for a brief visit, though the kids thought the accoustics were so great that they kept shrieking. We didn't stay long.
Work was a bit tedious. I spent several hours staring at a couple pages of code, trying to figure out why it wasn't working. Come tomorrow, I'll start in on it again.
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I find that more and more people are coming t...
August 23, 2004 by Adam in Family
I find that more and more people are coming to this site, though I'm not quite sure why. My little family isn't all that interesting. Perhaps it was a link on my work's intranet along with that article in PC Gamer. Ah, the life of a web celebrity. Yet another reason for Jamie to roll her eyes at me.
The rest of the weekend was pretty good, other than Jamie and I getting sick. It wasn't horrible, just some stomach bug and headache that kept us slower than normal. Jamie's family descended on our house for a couple hours of entertainment. Sam played a ton with one of the neighbor kids while Jamie and I actually had a few moments to ourselves.
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It was a bit of a whirlwind day yesterday
August 22, 2004 by Adam in Family
 It was a bit of a whirlwind day yesterday. Dave, Kirsten, and Josh came over for lunch and Sam and Josh got lots of play time in. Josh is going to be living with his mom, so we'll be missing him. For the last couple years, he's been stopping by our house after school, so Sam's grown awfully fond of him. He'll be at Lincoln City starting in a few weeks, so we'll probably visit when we go to the beach house.
The afternoon was spent at Jenny's house, getting our picture taken for an article talking about diverse families. I suspect we had the most interesting collection of mental conditions, though I'm not sure how that's going to come across in a photo. The kids got a little wild towards the end, with making them smile a Herculian task. It turns out I knew the photographer too, as she graduated from South back in '87 like I did.
The evening was spent winding the kids down and getting them ready for bed. Emma was up a little late, running around on the patio playing with the watering can.
As I type this, the rain has stopped and the sun is peeking out. I think we'll have Jamie's family over today as Brant and her brother are in town. We might do a little more work on the garage as well, getting stuff put away.
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After a hearty breakfast, we got ready for th...
August 21, 2004 by Adam in Family
 After a hearty breakfast, we got ready for the fairgrounds. We met up with Isabell, Sadie, and my mom then proceeded to see all the sights. The kids liked the rides, though I was partial to the OMSI exhibit and the various art shows. Looking at all the award-winning cookies and breads made me quite hungry.
The afternoon was pretty quiet. We power washed the basement, Jamie helped Victoria move for awhile, and Sam watched The Sword in the Stone.
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My mom pulled a sneaky one yesterday
August 20, 2004 by Adam in Family
 My mom pulled a sneaky one yesterday. She invited us over to dinner, only to find that Sadie was there to greet us. Evidently she'd flown over for a few days to hang out with everyone and get her picture taken with the rest of the family on Saturday. It was wonderful seeing her and we'll be going to the fair with her tomorrow.
Today was pretty quiet at work. Three deer stared at me noiselessly from our front yard as I bicycled away. Very surreal.
The kids were pretty funny tonight, especially Sam. He set up an elaborate experiment involving toilet paper, cups, water, and a penny. After getting very wet and lots of toilet paper strewn about, we asked him what he learned. "Not to pour water really fast."
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The county fair starts today
August 17, 2004 by Adam in Family
The county fair starts today. That means we'll be listening to 80's heavy metal bands for the next few nights as our house somehow catches the music from the fairgrounds with perfect fidelity. I'm hoping to take Friday off to visit with the kids. I suspect Sam will want to go on some rides, though I prefer the art and animal exhibits.
Our little family is doing well. Emma got a few bumps and scrapes just going around in the world, though she seemed fine this morning. When I left the house she was taking a bottle to feed her baby doll. Her verbal skills are improving quite a bit, with words like "water" and "baby" complete understandable.
This morning I had the kids for an hour at work. We went to visit the ducks at the mill race and feed them some old bread. Everyone had a good time and the walk around campus did us good.
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We all had a great time at Jordan's birthday ...
August 15, 2004 by Adam in Family
 We all had a great time at Jordan's birthday party. Sam spent the entire time trying to catch a fish that was in a nearby pond, while Emma enjoyed visiting with all the people.
After we got home, we "ate and drank" according to Sam who's helping me type this. We also got both kids naked in the backyard on the slip-and-slide. They then moved to the sand box, getting very sandy, and it was baths all around after that.
This Sunday has been pretty quiet. Jamie and I had a breakfast with just Emma as Sam slept in quite a long time. The big project for the day was to clean out the garage, which went pretty well. We're about halfway there, as most of the contents of the garage are still in boxes. This afternoon I went to the library and played a lot with Sam.
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It was a great morning
August 14, 2004 by Adam in Family
 It was a great morning. Jamie made up a tasty breakfast, though I forget the name of it. It involves mixing flour, eggs, and butter, then baking it for awhile. Very yummy. Sam slept in, so it was mostly a quiet breakfast.
We did some house projects so far, painting trim that we've left since Winter. We also ran out to Borders to pick up some presents. In an hour or two we'll be running over to Jordan's birthday party out at Island Park. Should be fun.
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Friday the 13th and mocha Friday, both on the...
August 13, 2004 by Adam in Family
Friday the 13th and mocha Friday, both on the same day. I wonder if they cancel each other out?
I don't think there's any big plans for this weekend. I got some cardboard boxes from work in preparation for a big garage clean-up. Hopefully we can get something useful done.
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The fig tree is gone, leaving a big part of t...
August 12, 2004 by Adam in Family
 The fig tree is gone, leaving a big part of the back yard now walkable. It's quite strange, making the yard look quite a bit bigger. Already Jamie and I are having discussions about fruit trees. We'll see how it comes along.
I had the kids this morning again while Jamie worked out. They were cute and funny as always, eating their bagles then exploring campus with me. I can't wait for the Natural History and Art museums to open, as we're sure to have a lot of fun in them.
I'm also hoping to upgrade my DSL connection, which should hopefully make this web site more snappy. Unfortunately it may also mean that I'm down for awhile, depending on what QWest does exactly.
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We all said our farewells to the fig tree in ...
August 11, 2004 by Adam in Family
We all said our farewells to the fig tree in our back yard. It's coming out today, along with pruning a couple of the other trees around our house. While figs are occasionally tasty, it's not something we regularly snack on. The tree also seems to take over most of the back yard, creating a big circle of branches and fig droppings where none dare to tread. The hope is that we put in an apple and pear tree, hopefully a hammock distance apart.
Everyone enjoyed the lake yesterday, with Sam having a good time swimming around. Other than that, life's pretty much the same as always. We pretended Sam was in superhero school, where he practiced bending steel with his bare hands, reading people's minds, and running faster than a bullet. So far, I think we're stuck with the Batman style hero, as he doesn't show any sign of superpowers. While that was going on, Emma played in the sandbox, fascinated at moving tiny grains of sand from point A to point B.
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The week chugs along
August 10, 2004 by Adam in Family
The week chugs along. I somehow managed to hurt my arm yesterday, probably due to lifting weights. It's completely fine until I move it into some odd position that I can't replicate. I woke myself up last night as I was dreaming that my arm was somehow hurt.
The family's doing fine. Jamie and the kids went out to Fern Ridge with a friend of hers to hang out at the lake. Emma was up a lot last night, so I had a quality 5 am visit with her. Sam had a brief tantrum involving a chocolate chip cookie and not eating his dinner. Jamie forced me to watch the redneck comedians on Comedy Central and rub her feet.
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The weekend is almost to a close
August 09, 2004 by Adam in Family
The weekend is almost to a close. It's been a pretty lazy one, with lots of playing with the kids and enjoying the sun. Sam in particular managed to wrangle quite a bit of dad play time with me, though Emma got her share as well. Both the kids were really funny this weekend, with witty comments from Sam and silly faces from Emma.
Jamie and I had a few moments to ourselves when my mom came over Saturday. We had lunch on the patio and then picked up figs from our yard that the birds had eaten. Ah, l'amour!
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It was nice to have the rain make itself know...
August 06, 2004 by Adam in Family
It was nice to have the rain make itself known again in our little valley. The scent of wetness was all about when I rode in this morning. Mixed with a coffee and a visit from Emma and Jamie, it was a nearly perfect work day.
I'm hoping this weekend is quiet. We've arranged for some babysitting tomorrow morning, but it's otherwise looking fairly calm. Hopefully we can work in a movie rental and a library trip, which sounds like just the thing on a rainy weekend.
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The week has been chugging along
August 05, 2004 by Adam in Family
The week has been chugging along. Since the release of my Neverwinter Nights game, I've been a bit on edge with the criticisms and bug reports. Jamie informed be that I was grumpy, so I'm making a conscious effort to be more mellow about things.
I had the kids this morning while Jamie worked out in the gym. We went over to the new business education building at the U of O. Emma went up and down the long spiral stairs, laughing as she went. They're both great kids and I appreciate them endlessly.
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The weekend has come and gone, and an interes...
August 02, 2004 by Adam in Family
 The weekend has come and gone, and an interesting one at that. Having Jim and Judy around was very nice and relaxing. They'd play with one kid or the other, leaving Jamie to leisurely go about our day. We went out to dinner with some of Jamie's clan, along with getting ready for the great party Sunday night.
The party was a pretty big get together, with an assortment of neighbors showing up. Virtually all our neighbors are professionals of one sort or another - doctors, engineers, or scientists. A bunch of them have kids as well - some very close in age to our kids. Plus they all seem like really nice folks, if a bit busy with work and children.
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