I decided to be productive this morning and s...

May 30, 2004 by Adam in Family

I decided to be productive this morning and spread a bunch of bark-o-mulch. Unfortunately Jamie's hearing must be improving after a week of plugged ears. I woke her up and the kids came with her.

I played a ton with Sam, getting my weekend's worth of playing in a couple hours. Then it was Emma's birthday party with the grandparents and a few other odds and ends. Sam departed with Jim and Judy for Portland, making it safe and sound. The house is pretty quiet without him.

Jamie, Emma, and I went shopping where I picked up some pyjamas, jeans, and tank tops. Then it was back home for a low-key evening. I'm hoping tomorrow is quiet as well, though I'll be heading to Jamie's birthday party for a little family entertainment.



It was busy at work, trying to catch up after...

May 28, 2004 by Adam in Family

It was busy at work, trying to catch up after two days of meetings. I walked home for lunch, watching the kids while Jamie shopped, then trudged back to work again. It was my substitute work-out as I'd forgotten all of my gym clothes.

My mom came over for dinner, after which she and Jamie went over business while I entertained children. Emma got to have some ice cream after dinner as a birthday treat. She seemed to like it quite a bit.

I think we're doing a small birthday for Emma this Saturday, mostly just the grandparents to try to keep the chaos in our house to a minimum. Then Sam is whisked away by Jim and Judy until next Monday.



BEWARE

May 27, 2004 by Jamie in Family

BEWARE...it may not be just the heat. Stomach flu is making its rounds at the preschool...as we learned yesterday when I was working ;-) Get well soon, Isa!



Oops

May 26, 2004 by Adam in Family

Oops. Indiscreet. I knew it was one of those one-word things. Anyway, it was a great movie.

I had a weird work day today which has me a bit befuddled. It started off with frantically reading e-mail, then spending the morning coming up with a team mission statement. In the afternoon, we drove an hour to the coast to take a one-hour "team building" ride on the dunes. Then it was another drive back to eat a quick dinner and get the kids ready for bed.

Sam was bouncing around and drinking so much water from the bath that he threw up. Emma hardly napped at all, though she's started taking more little steps.

I'm beat, driving out to the coast again for more meetings, and looking forward to the weekend ahead.



Well, that shows how much Adam paid attention

May 25, 2004 by Jamie in Family

Well, that shows how much Adam paid attention...the movie was INDISCREET... he rented it ;-)



The weekend has come and gone in a blur, as i...

May 24, 2004 by Adam in Family

The weekend has come and gone in a blur, as is typical these days. The most notable thing I can remember is that Jamie and I managed to sit down and watch an old movie - Notorius with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. We had to get two babysitters and watch it in two parts, but it was a nice reminder of the way we used to spend time together. Sam did get pretty sandy playing in the back yard with Graham, the afternoon babysitter, though I think they had a great time getting that way.

Emma's creeping up on her first birthday later this week. I think we're going to be pretty low-key about it. The cold that we all have is still lingering. I've got some work-related travel in the middle of this week. Next weekend Sam's heading to Portland for a few days. Lots of excitement coming up.

This morning I helped out at Sam's preschool. The kids made paper and ran all over the place. Sam's graduating next week. It's hard to imagine that in a few more months he'll be going to kindergarden. Time goes fast.



The workday is winding up, the caffiene still...

May 21, 2004 by Adam in Family

The workday is winding up, the caffiene still coursing through my veins this cloudy afternoon. Jamie whisked me away this morning while Sam was at school, taking me to tea. It was quite lovely and Emma had a good time dipping her Cheerios in jelly and clotted cream. I think Jamie's misses the days when we could hang out in coffee shops reading, watch old movies, and go for long walks. I miss them too.

I have no idea what I'm doing this weekend. There's a big pile of bark-o-mulch that's waiting to be spread about. Jamie's hoping for some recovery time to get over her ear infection and cold. I may end up renting some movies for Jamie and Sam, then see if I can get some things done during Emma's naps.



We had an interesting night last night, headi...

May 20, 2004 by Adam in Family

We had an interesting night last night, heading out to Urgent Care for most of the evening. Jamie was feeling the beginnings of an ear infection and she needed some antibiotics. That was the beginning of a little adventure that took seemingly forever, though the kids had a good time looking at all the fish in the fish tanks. We finally got the antibiotics way past the kids' bedtime, so we headed home and quickly got them to bed.

We've all been feeling this cold, with Emma seeming the most miserable. When I came home, she had been crying nonstop for awhile. A warm bath calmed her down, but it took a number of tricks to keep her happy for the rest of the evening. Hopefully it'll pass soon.



Our great accomplishment of Sunday was to fin...

May 17, 2004 by Adam in Family

Our great accomplishment of Sunday was to finish up Sam's bathroom. All the wainscotting and painting was finished by Seraph on Friday, but it took us awhile to put in the new outlet and switches, hang the medicine cabinet and shelf, and generally clean up. It looks very nice and hopefully Sam will keep it relatively intact over the next few years.

We also took care of more mundane things, such as going shopping. The kids and I played in the sandbox while Jamie visited with Angie. We made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It was all good.



What a day! It started with me taking Emma t...

May 16, 2004 by Adam in Family

What a day! It started with me taking Emma to Metropol, just like I used to take Sam when he was a baby. When I returned, I discovered we were out of coffee so I rushed off to pick up that and other critical items at the store. It was a wonderful breakfast full of scrumptious treats.

From ten to noon I helped Seraph and Robbie pack. It was a little sad, though I got their assurance that they'd be returning to Eugene once they were done with school. I got pretty exhausted towards noon and returned home hungry yet again.

After lunch I worked on replacing outlets in Sam's new bathroom, which took far longer than anyone thought. It wasn't until after dinner that I actually finished the job. Somewhere in the middle Emma got tired and Sam and I went to Hendrick's park to get out of the house.

We took a path that I'd never taken before and ended up in a part of the park that was far off the beaten path. After ten or so minutes, all we could see were trees and ferns all around us. After awhile, the trail vanished and we ended up trying to circle through the underbrush to make it back. It took far longer than we thought, Sam thinking it was a grand adventure the whole time. We finally made it home, exhausted and hungry yet again.



It's Mocha Friday, though I'm not quite yet t...

May 14, 2004 by Adam in Family

It's Mocha Friday, though I'm not quite yet to work. Still waking up.

I had the kids again during lunch yesterday and we ran down to the duck pond to see the baby ducks and the nutria. Sam and Emma both seemed mesmerized by the rat-like creatures. It was a beautiful day and getting outside was quite nice.

Seraph has been slaving away upstairs this week, working on painting and wainscotting Sam's bathroom. A couple days ago they had terrible luck with a nailgun, as the air compressor kept tripping the breaker. She spent the day yesterday doing it the old fashion way which worked well enough. It'll be very nice when it's finished, which should be today.

I'm not sure what the weekend will bring. I'm helping Seraph and Robbie move on Saturday. There's lots of house chores I could do. Personally I'd like to have a little quiet time with my family, if such a thing is possible.



I had a really good afternoon yesterday, thou...

May 13, 2004 by Adam in Family

I had a really good afternoon yesterday, though I'm not sure why. When I arrived, I grabbed the kids and headed outside. We ended up in the sand box, burying each kid in turn to their waist. Even Emma thought it was great fun, giggling as she patted the sand on her toes. Afterwards, Sam wanted to be hosed off, but it was far too cold.

We piled in the bath, got relatively clean, then watched X-Men 2 and ate pizza that Jamie had ordered. Later, we got the kids ready for bed and I read Sam his Start Wars comic book until it was time for me to go.

It was quite the contrast to spending the day in a meeting with Microsoft reps, mostly folding my cough-drop papers into tiny airplanes.



I had the kids yesterday during lunch while J...

May 12, 2004 by Adam in Family

I had the kids yesterday during lunch while Jamie worked out. We hiked over to the EMU on campus and watched the fish in the indoor pond. Sam and Emma both thought it was pretty cool. I had to distract Emma with an orange in order to keep her from climbing in and swimming with the fishes herself.

My cold is getting a bit worse, I think, but not as bad as the ones over the winter. I'm sure I'll manage.



Well, it looks like we're all sick

May 11, 2004 by Adam in Family

Well, it looks like we're all sick. I feel pretty good other than a nagging cough. Sam's sniffly and was up quite a bit last night. Emma's a little grumpy and so far Jamie seems the only one untouched.

It was a fairly quiet night last night. Emma was very wiggly and kept wanting to crawl upstairs to Jamie. Sam mostly played on the computer while I was here. It's sometimes hard to get the energy up to entertain two children at once, especially when I'm not feeling so great. Hopefully this one will pass quickly.



The cousins all had a great time running arou...

May 10, 2004 by Adam in Family

The cousins all had a great time running around together last night. It was a bit daunting trying to keep everyone safe as they tore around in my mom's back yard, but I think the broken bones were kept to a minimum. They all seemed to have a great time and Sam didn't particularly want to leave.

Seraph starts slaving away at our house for the week, doing some work in Sam's bathroom that Jamie's been wanting to do. Jamie's also "snack mom" at the preschool today and I might try biking over to help during her time of need.

It's the typical Monday morning, lots of things to fix and take care of here at work. Better start slaving away soon.



The weekend seems a blur and it's not even ov...

May 09, 2004 by Adam in Family

The weekend seems a blur and it's not even over yet. Friday night, my dad and Yayoe came over for a nice dinner. Saturday I watched the kids in the morning while Jamie did gardening, then we switched and I ran errands. One of the things I managed to do was get Jamie's computer hooked up to the Internet again. She sat down to check e-mail and was rewarded by endless spam for viagra and enlarging body parts.

Saturday night had Jamie's family over, enchiladas for everyone. Sunday morning we had my mom over for breakfast. After lunch we walked down by the river and enjoyed the cool weather. A lovely mother's day for all.



It's Mocha Friday at work today, so I'm feeli...

May 07, 2004 by Adam in Family

It's Mocha Friday at work today, so I'm feeling fairly perky. We shuffled the kids off to bed early last night then watched the Friends finale like millions of other Americans. It was a bit nostalgic, mostly because Jamie and I started dating when it first began.

I spread bark-o-mulch last night while Emma played in the sandbox and Sam pretended I was a slave. The game was that we were trying to escape from some evil overlord. Basically he ran around finding hidden escape routes while I kept shoveling bark. The vegitable garden and area under the fence is covered, though there's plenty more to do. The fence is almost completely finished now, with only a small part needing to be stained. It's quite different from the giant laurels, but it's pretty in its own way.

We have lots of family visits this weekend, with my dad and Yayoe coming over tonight, then a bit mother's day event at my mom's on Sunday. Hopefully I can get Jamie's computer hooked up to the network and spread the rest of the bark. No rest for the weary!



The kids woke up earlier than usual, so I had...

May 06, 2004 by Adam in Family

The kids woke up earlier than usual, so I had to sneak up and say hello while I was getting ready for work. Emma glommed on to me immediately, wanting me to carry her about everywhere. Sam came down shortly after that and it quickly became very hard to go to work.

I finally pried myself away with promises that I'd see them soon. We have a plan where Jamie will leave the kids with me for lunch while she uses the gym. If it goes well, it may be a regular Tuesday/Thursday thing. Unfortunately it means giving up a couple workouts on my part, but there's simply not enough time to go around these days.



The weekend is coming to an end

May 03, 2004 by Adam in Family

The weekend is coming to an end. My skin is burned and scratched, but I'm strangely happy. It began with all of us piling into bed and giggling as the kids slowly woke up, then a trip to Metropol for sweets and bread. While the kids and I played with Legos, Jamie had her quiet breakfast-making time, then we scarfed down a hearty breakfast.

Sam and I played a fair bit, getting our Star Wars Lego activities in for the day, then we began getting ready to clear out the bushes Dave yanked out a couple weeks ago.

Yesterday, my task was to help the neighbors' oil the new fence that's going in. It's nearly finished and looks quite nice. I miss the huge laurels a little, but they were a huge amount of work to maintain and clean up the leaves.

Today, I hauled off lots of yard debris, returning with a pickup load of bark-o-mulch. It took well over two hours to get it all moved over and at the end of the day I was hot and sweaty. The solution, of course, was an impromptu water fight with Sam. We ended up getting drenched and laughing endlessly.

I relieved Jamie and played with both kids outside. Emma was doing her usual "What's that?" and waving at everyone who walked by. She's also standing much more and much longer. Walking is just around the corner.

As another beautiful day wound down, my mom took Sam out to ice cream. I played "drop the baby" on the bed, which Emma loves, and Jamie enjoyed the quiet for a little.



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