I'm trying to get Sam back on track with his math class, as he's not doing particularly well and doesn't seem motivated.  I emailed the teacher and hopefully sorted things out.  Of course, last night after I picked him up from his mom's we spent the evening working on a Raspberry Pi and reinstalling a fresh install of Linux Debian on it.  It looks like he and his friends are trying to put together a Maker club, mostly working on digital things.  

Berry's soccer practice continues to generally be positive, though apparently they were playing a game she strongly disagreed with.  Our little girl is occasionally mercurial.  Duncan is feeling a little behind with his French vocabulary, so we might start speaking French at the dinner table some evenings.  I suspect we'll amuse Cecilia tremendously.  

Emma is doing well in school and I thanked her for basically staying on top of things without any intervention.  I do appreciate her cheerfulness.

Joanna's cold seems to be lingering still, as is Sam's.  Despite the madness she managed to buy me some chocolate covered espresso beans as a treat.  I do love that woman.

We did get some good pictures from the night before when we confusingly thought the eclipse was going to happen.  I managed to get some decent shots through the telescope with my cell phone.

The weekend was pleasant and uneventful.  Joanna and I went out to dinner at the Pizza Research Institute, listening to jazz and enjoying our time away from kids.  Saturday started with waffles and continued with a library trip that afternoon.  I managed to take down the pool with Emma and Cecilia's help, otherwise the day was all very low-key.

That night Joanna went off to an "OBOB for adults" trivia night at Tsunami, coming in second place and returning with wine and tea cups.  First place was a beach weekend with her team, which was all strangers, so I wonder a little if she threw the lightening round question after being tied.  The kids and I enjoyed pizza and Mythbusters.

Sunday was much of the same.  Sam worked on his Iliad essay.  Emma and I watched another Titan's Grave episode.  Cecilia went mushroom picking with strangers in the woods.  Berry played soccer against the toughest team in their league and won.  Duncan made videos of Sam jumping over him in slow motion.  

These are the days I shall remember fondly in my dotage.

Yesterday was exhausting, starting at 5 o'clock and going non-stop until past 10 that night.  I spent 5 or 6 hours on the road, listening to Neuromancer and trying to survive the crazy Portland traffic.  I was headed to Vancouver for meetings, which were somewhat intense and non-stop.  When I arrived we had a quick meal and then Joanna went off to Emma's school's open house.  I picked up Berry from soccer practice and got all the kids through the bedtime routine.  Somewhere in there were two dishwasher loads and three loads of laundry, though I was stumbling around towards the end of the night.

Sam and Joanna have both been fighting mild colds.  I think they're doing okay other than the occasional pain killers.  Joanna did have one really bad day, but I hope she's mostly feeling better.  We have a hot date tonight, which I look forward to.

We have all the kids tonight and through the weekend.  Hopefully we can finish taking down the pool and do some vaguely enriching events.  I realized this morning I was slowly turning into my mother when I felt the need to get the kids doing something to expand their horizons while I had them.

Friday night Emma decided to spend the night at Jamie's house, which wasn't quite planned, though it turned out okay.  Saturday was Jamie's birthday (and Talk Like a Pirate Day). Sam and Emma went out to brunch and returned around noon on Saturday.

The rest of the crew ate dinner and went to Yogurt Extreme.  Cecelia was amused by all the weird toppings, which apparently are unusual in France. The next morning was Talk Like a Pirate Day, which gave me the perfect excuse to amuse everyone with pirate talk.  I managed to mow the lawn and injure myself with the weed whacker.  The rest of the kids arrived around lunch.

Sam played video games.  Joanna took Duncan and Cecelia to Target.  Emma had Kate over that afternoon and they made D&D characters.  The day wrapped up with pizza and Mythbusters, complete with delicious pizza that Joanna made for us, along with home brewed pear cider.

Sunday was another mix of hanging out and work.  The pool was halfway taken down.  I fixed a chair and broke the downstairs sink.  We all played Dixit, which was heated but generally fun.  

Later I took most everyone to the park, which spawned its own adventure.  Duncan threw a frisbee in a tree.  Sam threw the water bottle up in the tree to try and knock it down, but only succeeded in completely denting the water bottle.  Then a guy came by and tossed his shoe into the tree, which promptly got it stuck.  I ran home, returning with a ladder and fruit picker.  At that point a second shoe was in the tree and Sam had cut his hand on something.  Eventually Sam climbed up and got everything down.  We returned home, a weird mix of elation and defeat.

Wednesday night Joanna gracefully went to the South curriculum night with me, a quick dinner at Cafe Yumm and then running around the halls of South Eugene High School.  We only managed to get to Sam's first three classes, but we managed to collect an adjective from each teacher along the way - quiet, brilliant, prince.  His classes are covering quite a bit of material, but he seems enthusiastic about it.  Last night when Joanna went to Charlemagne's curriculum night, Sam read the Iliad to the kids for bedtime.

We had everyone for dinner last night, chatting away about all manner of things.  Afterward Sam and I worked on the linux setup of his Raspberry Pi machine.  We got the GUI issue sorted out and setup remote access.  Sam was excited that he could apply what he's learned in his self-taught class.  Maybe we'll make a server administrator out of that boy.

Berry continues to enjoy school and exhaust herself at soccer.  Her team keeps winning, which probably helps with the enthusiasm.  Duncan is his usual easy-going self.  Emma is getting a pre-teen nihilistic streak and wants to gather her friends together for a D&D session.  Cecelia spent last night strangely grading English papers for the French immersion program.  Joanna works way too hard and is challenged by finding time to do everything. 

I'm hoping the weekend is relatively low-key.  Duncan has a birthday party.  Emma has some school shopping.  Hopefully we can get out and enjoy the weather while it lasts.

Friday night Joanna and I went out to Friendly Street Market to eat quiche and listen to Ukulele music.   My mom took Cecelia and a somewhat grumpy Berry to dinner at Tasty Thai.  We appreciate the sacrifice mom.

Saturday I took Berry, Emma, and Cecelia to the library, with Joanna picking up Berry to take to a series of soccer games while I picked up Sam on the way home.  The afternoon was relatively low-key, as it was too hot to go outside.  I played with kids, did laundry, and fixed the bike rack in the basement.  Eventually the day wound down with pizza and Mythbusters and Duncan getting picked up later that night.

Sunday morning started with dutch babies and a mocha.  While Joanna took Duncan to church, I packed a picnic lunch and took everyone else to hike around Mount Pisgah.  It was surprisingly dry, but we managed to have fun tromping around.  I fortunately brought a first aid kit, and had to use it twice for minor scrapes and splinters.  They ran around with walkie talkies and ended with an epic hide-and-seek session.  

Once returning home, we all crashed out and relaxed for the rest of the day.  I spent a bunch of time with Sam trying to get the Raspberry Pi configured for his linux administration lessons for his computer class.  He had a hard time stopping, especially when we managed to screw up the configuration right before bedtime.

Joanna took Berry to more soccer games, taking Duncan along as well.  They went to listen to Amy Steinberg later in the day, with Berry singing a song alongside her.  I enlisted the remaining crew to help make dinner.  I put off dishes and chatted with Cecelia about teaching and adjusting to life in our quirky family.  Hopefully she settles in okay.

We somehow all got ready for school and work this morning.  Hopefully the week will be a good one.

We're still adjusting to the start of school.  Everything feels busier, from getting lunches made in the morning to doing homework every night.  Sam has a fairly significant workload schedule with his AP European History and Precalculus.  I think he's going to try and do something with the Raspberry Pi and Linux for his computer class.  Emma is taking the usual required classes, plus band and art.  This weekend she has a project involving fingerprinting - hopefully she doesn't blackmail us by threatening to send our prints to the FBI.

Berry had a hard time getting to school yesterday, but seems a little more enthusiastic today.  She misses Duncan, who is off having adventures.  Berry's also been off at soccer practice, returning home last night completely exhausted.  This weekend she has her first games in a non-stop jamboree.

Cecelia's first day with kids went relatively well.  She's been increasingly chatty the last few days.  Last night Emma and I had a long talk with her about school in our various countries.  I've also tried to explain my big family and how everyone is related, though it seems an impossible task at times.

It's also 9/11.  I have some vivid memories from 14 years ago, our family going out to pizza after the terrorist attacks.  Life is strange.

While I didn't finish all the house projects I was hoping to get to, I'm pretty happy with what I've managed.  Berry's computer desk went from mounds of weird toys, art work, and garbage to a neat and tidy area.  All the laundry is done.  I cleaned the guest house.  Duncan and Berry's computers were upgraded to Windows 10.  I think we're generally ready.

We heard that Honoka decided to go to junior collage to become a nutritionist.  She seemed hesitant about college when she was staying with us.  I'd like to think that all our talk of higher education and her great experience in catering may have helped influence her.

Tomorrow Sam, Emma, and Cecelia arrive.  I'm taking Friday off to help with any school preparations and getting kids settled.  Hopefully we can show Cecelia the town a little and introduce her to pizza and Mythbusters.