Finals week.

Not much happening here today. Last night we watched Veronica Mars, all four episodes on the DVD.
Today and tomorrow Southridge gets out at 11:00 because of finals. I'm expecting Andrew soon, with news of his Japanese and Chemistry tests. Then he goes back for swim practice this afternoon sometime.
Today's theme for Highland Park's week of craziness or whatever is: crazy colors. Mali did not rise to the bait this morning.

Car Accident - Updated

Susy called: She got rear-ended on the way to work this morning. She is fine, but the camry will need a new bumper. Susy was talking to her mom on her cell phone when she was hit, and the phone flew from her hand and closed. Now Irene's phone is busy. I just called the Sarasota PD so they could go check on her. Update soon to follow.
UPDATE - Everyone is fine. Irene just left the phone off the hook. She got the expected fright when the two, very nice, police officers showed up at her door, but they fixed her phone and all is well.

Crazy Hair Day

Rachel didn't come over. Here's what Mali came up with for Highland Park Middle School's Crazy Hair Day:

Update - I like this photo better:
(plus she's got that eye-twitch thing going on.)

Another Early Morning

Andrew was up before 5:00 to go to early practice this morning. He has a math final today, but tomorrow is his hard day: Japanese and Chemistry. My perfectionist is worried, but he has a solid A in all his classes.
Mali has finals coming up too, but I don't know much about them. But I know that tomorrow is some kind of crazy hair day, and Rachel may come over before school so they can coordinate.

First Swim Meet

Andrew swam with the varsity, and did great. He got second in the 100yd Butterfly, and missed winning by a hand. He also got second with his friend Eric in the freestyle relay.
Susy and I were both timers, which was surprisingly fun, but didn't leave time for taking many photos. The Beaverton Swim Center is also really dark, so most of the ones I took were blurred. The too-dark photo above is of the sign we saw hanging at Southridge when we went there after the swim meet for the end-of-season soccer party.
The party was more fun than I expected. Since we'd been at the swim meet all afternoon, our contribution to the potluck was a well thought out pizza order. Our two pizzas joined the half-dozen or so already there. Mali sat with Andrew and some of the freshman players, while Susy and I sat with Kyle's, Ethan's, and Eric's parents. Kyle received the Most Improved award - as voted by his teammates, and the coach said lots of nice things about all the players. It was a very fun team. I hope it works out as well next year.

Swimming prep.

Andrew's up way early. There's a potluck breakfast/carb-loading festival for the swim team this morning. Andrew's bringing the peanut butter cookies Susy made last week. Their first meet is this afternoon. Susy and I signed up as timers because they couldn't get enough volunteers, but I will escape that duty if possible so I can take pictures. Susy needs some now for the new website she set up for the swim team.

Winery Saturday

Saturday we ditched the kids and went winery hopping with Alana, NancyD and her friend Joe. We made an unscheduled stop at Ponzi just down the street - none of them had been there before, which is amazing since it's only two miles away. It's good wine, but pricey, partly because it's so close to Portland.
Robert and Jennifer found us at Elvenglade/Remy picking up our futures, and tasting them now that they're bottled. Susy bought a nice print of the painting they used for their labels, and I had a long chat with their photographer, bagribs, about Flickr.
From there we all headed South to Carlton and stopped at Ken Wright Cellars and drank expensive futures we declined to buy, and then walked over to the Utopia tasting room where it was my turn (I was jealous of Paul's purchase last time) to buy a case of their tasty and reasonably priced Napa Malbec.
We returned home and Susy fed the kids while I (Bad Dad!) let Alana drive me over to have more wine and food at Robert and Jennifer's house, and play Guitar Hero.
I came home in time for us to discover that Netflix sent us the wrong Veronica Mars DVD. And of course that is the one disk that has been unavailable at our local video store.

More photos

The sunrises over Mt. Rainier got me outside with my camera, and I've posted a few of the results at www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/
There's also a few more Thanksgiving photos.
Here's pajama-clad Mali outside in the frosty morning investigating the frozen birdbath.

Conner is a big fan of games, just like his big cousin Andrew. They managed to get in a couple rounds of Uno with various other Thanksgiving guests.

Happy Leftover Day!

Mali and I had our favorite breakfast in the entire world: Poached eggs on toast with leftover ham and creamed onions. Delicious!
I've posted a few Thanksgiving photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/
I've got no photo software here, so they're straight out of the camera. I may post a couple more after a little cropping action.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunshine is beating down on the water here in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house, but it's still pretty cold. There's a turkey in the oven and onions in the pot. Guests arrive in a couple of hours and everyone here is up and about except Andrew. He deserves a good sleep-in after yesterday's long day and dual swim practices. Moose has already had a visit with all the neighbor dogs.

soccer 2007 ends

Mali's team battled hard in their last game of the year, but lost 1-0 against their main rivals. They lost every game in this tournament, but they were playing against teams in the league above them - their coaches wanted to challenge them. Mali has been playing great lately, we're really proud of her. She plays defense, and they have a great defense, and they have given up very few goals while Mali was in the game. She's the speedy one. She is taking a break and is not going to play indoor with most of the rest of her team. We're all a bit burned out on soccer at the moment.

I just dropped Andrew off at his 5:30 AM swim practice. He goes again tonight for more time trials. Mali has her last drama/improvisation workshop tonight after school. We're picking her up and driving North to the grandparent's for Thanksgiving.

Quiche!

Susy and I went to Costco at lunch today, and I just missed the quiche sample, so Susy made us a feta and spinach quiche for dinner. Yum! Mali tried it and didn't like it, so joined Andrew in his chicken nuggets. Now Susy's making peanut butter cookies! The rain (and the day off) brings out the baker in her.
Andrew started time trials today at swim practice - they're doing them all week. He, Eric, and Rian walked home together afterwards since the rain had let up.
Mali went to Rachel's after school for awhile and they did their homework together.

Dark and Rainy Oregon Mondays

Susy is on vacation all week - yay for her!!! It's the random, use-it-or-lose-it end-of-year vacation choice, this one in honor of Thanksgiving. She is enjoying day one with a much-deserved sleep-in.
The kids were both moving slowly this morning. Andrew's lament over the darkness turned even sadder when he opened the door to see the rain pouring down.
The rains paused in time for Mali's journey to the bus stop (all the way to the corner - Andrew's jealous, his was (and is) farther). She was up an hour early, as usual, but it took her the whole hour before her normal morning perkiness surfaced, and even then it was a bit subdued. Mondays. Dark and rainy Oregon Mondays.
Moose has already had one paw-washing trip to the tub this morning. He may get a haircut today, to help combat the easy muddiness he comes by now. It's wet up here! The rains have hit their winter groove.

Wet soccer

We are back from a cold and very wet soccer game. Luckily it was on turf, so it wasn't a mudbath. Mali played great, and her team did okay but still managed to lose 3-0. They are playing in a tougher tournament than usual - their coaches opted for the premier league tournament. It's a big transition - a lot of the dribbling they could pull off in the lower league doesn't work here, and they haven't quite got their passing down yet.
My fingers aren't working too well either. They are still stiff from cold.
We're all heading out now to end-of-soccer-season party at Laserport. She still has one more game to go, on Tuesday, but next weekend is Thanksgiving and Coach Dean will be gone, so this was the last chance.

Sunday morning

Mali made me pancakes for breakfast, and now the whole gang including Moose and my newest daughter Rian are out shopping - mostly for new jeans for Andrew to replace his flood pants.
I'm home working (see me work...)

Mali's home!

Andrew was up at 6:30 this morning to go to swim practice. He was a bit groggy. Afterwards he and Rian walked to Starbucks and I picked them up and treated them and me to drinks. Rian stayed here most of the day, joined by Tiana for awhile. They played games - it rained all day.
Mali finally came home around 6:00 tonight, tired and grumpy. She'd been gone since 6:00 PM yesterday at Rochelle's sleepover. She eventually got ungrumpy, about the time the sugar from dessert hit her.
After dinner we watched our latest Veronica Mars DVD, and now we're to bed.

It's good to be home!

I love the sweet smile of my morning girl. Mali was happy to see me.
Andrew was too busy preparing for his field trip today to celebrate my arrival. I drove him to school so he could talk to his teachers, since he's going to be out. His language arts class is visiting an elementary school to read to third graders. He thought he was forgetting something - Mali had it pegged when she got up - he had a book he was going to bring: The Enormous Crocodile. He gave it to Mali for Christmas a few years ago, and was going to read it to the little kids.
Tonight is Andrew's swim team kick-off party. Mali has yet another sleepover birthday party, this time at Rochelle's. Hooray for Fridays!

Home from Texas

I got in after midnight last night. It was a very long day.
Yesterday Andrew called me on my cell phone while I was in a meeting with customers to tell me I'd gotten the date wrong for his soccer party - it's just his swimming party that is tonight. So I showed everyone his photo on my phone and told them he only called to tell me I was wrong. Strangely, they all understood. Then I turned my phone off.

Texas

85 degrees today, slightly humid. It's cold in Oregon, I hear.
Susy and Andrew are going to a Swim Team meeting tonight.
My demo went well, but lots of work still to do.

In Houston

Actually, The Woodlands, Texas. Big demo today.
I called home, and Andrew is all recovered and survived swim team. Everyone is fine, even without me. Amazing.

Veteran's Day (Observed)

Kids are home today. Well, Mali is home now from her sleepover at Tara's in Hillsboro. They did arts and crafts, which is the only thing I can think of that would keep Mali up until 4:00 AM!
Susy retrieved her at 11:00, and Andrew, Rian, and I met them at the Reedsville Cafe for lunch and the Mali hand-off.
Andrew is not feeling too well - his throat is bothering him - so he skipped swim team practice today. I drove Rian and Eric to practice, and then Andrew and Mali both took naps.

Blustery Day

Very windy here today! Some rain too. A big change from yesterday's cold-but-calm sunshine.

Sunday - more soccer

Mali's soccer game today went better, but they still lost, 3-1.
Afterwards Susy took her to the mall to get her a present for Tara, and she's at her sleepover birthday party tonight. No school tomorrow.
After we dropped her off at the party, Susy, Andrew, and I went to GoGo's for dinner.
Here's Mali, Rochelle, and Tesia after their game today:

Mali Soccer

I got home Saturday just in time to catch the last half of Mali's soccer game. They played well but lost 3-0 against a very good team. Saturday night (after hide-and-seek, see below) Mali went to the U of Portland Pilots game with her team, then spent the night with Tesia at Rochelle's house. They have another game at noon today, which will be the next time we see her.
Susy, Andrew, and I went out for dinner to Jopa with William's family on Larry and Theresa's recommendation. It was great food, and a good menu. We'll be back to try other things. Andrew and I split a pizza and fish and chips, and Susy had the yellow squash ravioli - all delicious!

Home from Redmond

I had a quick two day trip to Redmond for work, and now I'm home.
Andrew has his friends Rian, William, and Kyle over, and now they're playing hide-and-seek with Mali.

UPDATE: They left the house to continue playing up at the school in the dark.

Mali's Backpack

It's true what they say about kid's backpack's these days. I'm used to it by now (I don't have to carry one), but this photo reminded me. Too many notebooks and books, and they're lockers are tiny, and they have to share. This was taken yesterday morning, just before leaving for school. Note her new boots! (click to see the whole photo.) Also, the black top was the shirt I chopped in half for my pirate costume. My high-drama fashion princess has a pretty yellow shirt on underneath it.

First MORNING Swim Team practice

I didn't wake up at 3:00 AM this morning - of course - because I got up at 5:00 to drive Andrew and Eric to their first morning swim team practice. Their practice schedule is flexible - they get to choose 6 of 11 practices, but the coach wants them to have at least two morning ones. We don't know yet if Saturday's practice counts as a morning one. We're hoping! The weekday morning practices start at 5:30, but luckily they're less than ten minutes away. It looked like they were the first ones there this morning, other than the janitor opening the doors.
I stopped on the way home and got Mali two fresh bagels. She will probably like these morning practices of Andrew's.

Foggy Soccer

Mali's team got a practice in at Beaverton High School last night, complete with a scrimmage, scrambled with an older girl's team in the fog under the lights. Mali made her penalty kick while I watched, and her team won.
Got home to a very late pizza dinner and a showing of Veronica Mars off our latest DVD.

First Swim Team Practice

Swim practice contained no swimming. Girls waterpolo had the pool, so the first day was talking and running on the track. Rian and Andrew walked home together, then Rian stayed for spaghetti, with a game of hearts afterwards.
Mali's decided not to play indoor soccer with her team - she's ready for a break.
I can't decide which of these two photos I like the best, so I posted them both.

Here's Mali cracking Rian up just before they leave for swim practice (Andrew and Moose appear immune here, but that is not usually the case.)

No School Today

The kids are off today - this is Oregon, after all. Rian is over - She, Andrew, and Mali are playing hide-and-seek. Rian just looked in the drier for Mali - she's hiding under my desk (literally underfoot!) The best hiding spot was probably Andrew crammed into the cupboard under the kitchen sink.
The first swim practice is this afternoon at 2:30.

Elk Cove Fall Dinner

Here's Susy and I at the Elk Cove Winery last night. We went with Paul and Alana for the Fall Roosevelt's Club Dinner. The food was good, the wine was great, and the setting is spectacular.


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Andrew went out for dinner with Rian and her family to PF Chang's. Mali stayed home and hopefully slept - she was really wiped out after the sleepover at Tesia's house.
Before all that, there was another poker game at our house:

Friday Night Excitement

Mali is spending the night at Tesia's house. She went straight from school so I haven't seen her since this morning.
Andrew went to Tiana's to watch a movie with a group of kids, and now they're at the football game.
Susy and I went for a walk with Moose, Alana, and Max, and now we're home alone - so we're going to bed early. Wow, we lead an exciting life!
Tomorrow night we're going out for dinner to a winery, and Sunday we're going downtown to celebrate Nancy's birthday. So we'd better sleep now.

Hi

Mali made the cake yesterday afternoon, with hopes for accolades from Andrew and his friends. When he showed up alone she made him call Rian and invite her over. We ate most of it right then.
We received and finished the next Veronica Mars DVD - season 2/disk 2. It's posted back to Netflix today and we eagerly wait for the next installment.
Dinner was chicken noodle soup, since Susy and I weren't feeling well. Andrew was happy eating leftover spaghetti, since the rest of us wanted onions in the soup.

Post-Halloween Morning

I had to wake Andrew up, he went back to sleep after his alarm went off.
Mali is staying home - she has a fever. I guess she overdid it. She is back in bed now.
I'm not going to Redmond today as I'd hoped - I have too much work to do to spend 6 hours driving up there and back. I will be up next week sometime instead to review stuff before my trip to Texas and Arkansas before Thanksgiving.

Halloween Photos

Moose got into the act too, though he didn't go out with the girls. We did walk him over to Alana's in costume, but removed it so he could play with Max.
He's a construction worker, in case you couldn't tell. He didn't like the yellow hat, so we left that off.

And one more photo of the girls in costume:

Halloween!

Mali did her trick-or-treating with Hannah and Rachel - they left around 7:00, somehow returned to trick-or-treat our house around 8:00 with Andrew's friends Maddie and Joe, and then ended up at Alana's around 8:30, where Susy and I joined them and the full-scale party going on. There were over a dozen adults and what seemed like a hundred kids at Alana's - All the adult usual suspects and then some, plus scores of Olivia's friends. Alana had her usual gargantuan pot of chili, Jennifer brought an amazing apple tart, and of course Deborah brought more cookies and brownies then even the hordes could get through.

Andrew had Rian and Kyle over after school, then around 5:00 they headed over Kyle's party. Andrew, Tiana, Ethan, and Rian ended up at Tiana's house when the rest of the party went trick-or-treating, and Andrew finally got home around 10:30.

Supergirl Hannah, Waitress Mali, and Pirate Rachel.