Snow gone. Susy sick.

Susy went to work today, where she feels miserable. She was sick all weekend, including her Friday off. She wanted to go in today to pick up her new laptop - otherwise she had to wait another month. I am finally mostly better - I'm able to take a deep breath without coughing up my lungs. But coughing still hurts.
Mali has soccer practice tonight - it's been raining off and on but it's been in the 40's all day. Andrew and Rian walked halfway home from swimming practice before I picked them up.
Yesterday I picked up Paul, Nancy, Zoë, and a sunburned Hannah from the MAX - the van and I were the last leg of their trip home from their 10-day Cancun vacation. Mali went over to hang out with Zoë most of the afternoon. They brought me back a bottle of D'Aristi Xtabentun, a honey and anise rum-based liquor supposedly based on a Mayan spirit made from the Xtabentun flower on the Yucatan peninsula. I opened it and we tasted it at their house when I dropped Mali off - very delicious.

Impromptu Poker on MLK Eve.

Paul called for a game night, and we ended up with a big Texas Hold'em poker game at our house last night. Players were: Andrew, Mali, Pablo, Paul, Nancy, Zoë, and later Alana sat in for Nancy when she took Hannah home. Susy took a shower and bonded with her book, since she had to work early this morning. Matias couldn't play since he's been ignoring his homework and has band practice for nine hours today.
Kids are home in honor of MLK. Mali has another birthday party to go to at noon, and Andrew has swim practice at 2:30. I am working away - except for right this second as I'm about to drive Mali to her party.

Dog Birthday!

December 27th: We had a bithday party for Moose and Max, who turned one year old. No cake, though Alana brought over all the leftover desserts from her Boxing Day party, along with Maiara, Samira, Ryan, and Max. Nancy made a salad and brought the dog's honored mother, Tinkerbelle, along with Paul and the kids. Pablo was healthy enough to come over too, along with Rocio and Matias. And of course my newest daughter Rian was also here for the festivities.
The people and dogs all had a great time. Alana brought presents for the dogs, and the kids helped play with them. Susy and I contributed teriyaki pork, garlic green beans, and brown rice to the dinner. Kids took over the kitchen and adults captured the dining room, except poor Ryan who got stuck in the kitchen with the kids.

Tinkerbelle sadly did not get to go home with her family, who were leaving in the morning for a long vacation in Arizona. We are watching Tink for the next nine days. So far it's been a breeze - she's pretty mellow, yet good at entertaining Moose. She tried to trick us into carrying her up the stairs, but we didn't fall for it. She makes it up and down fine, but only after it's obvious that she's not going to get magically transported upstairs, and that no one is coming back down.

Boxing Day

Alana's traditional Boxing Day party was a great time! About 35 people were there, and we knew most of them. Mali had fun with Rachel and Zoë, and Hannah and Rachel's sister Julia discovered each other. Moose had fun with Max, though they were shuffled outside for much of the party. Tinkerbelle did not come for the party this year. Last year she came because she was pregnant with Moose and Max and several other puppies, ready to pop, and required monitoring. She popped the next day, which made for exciting times.
Andrew brought Rian, and Matias disappeared with NancyD's twins to play pool downstairs. Sadly, Pablo stayed home sick. Alana's friend Cookie made a fantastic chocolate ameretto cake, and NancyD brought delicious appetizers. Alana made her standard salmon, which everyone loves (except the fish-haters.)
Paul went second in the gift exchange and won himself thong underwear, picked out by Maiara and Alicia. No one traded with him. Nancy won a Candle-Topper - for retopping candles, of course. Susy was pleased with her vibrating neck pillow, NancyD with her paperwhites, and I came home with a can of poppycock.

Storm and Symphony

Wind has been shaking the house and tossing rain against the windows since early yesterday. Poor Moose sits by the sliding door like he wants to go out, until we open it. He's been outside twice for about two minutes each. Mali slept at the opposite end of Andrew's bed last night (their idea) to hide from any falling trees in the backyard. They moved Moose's bed in there for the night too.

We ditched the kids Saturday night for Robert and Jennifer's going-away dinner at Alana's, with all the usual suspects and also Annette's friend Jason. We ditched them again last night (their choice) for a trip downtown to hear the Oregon Symphony play Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Zoë, Hannah, and Matias all came along, along with their parents and Alana and NancyD.

Rian had some reason for going to the ceramic place down the hill and invited Mali and convinced Andrew to also come and paint stuff. Susy picked them up and dropped Mali off at Zoë's for the afternoon - they haven't done much together lately. I'm driving Mali back to Zoë's this morning, but she's only getting a ride because of the wind and rain.
Rian came over for the afternoon yesterday, and we all let Andrew convince us to play a game of Euchre. Susy and I won, of course.

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:

Pool time - and more Ratatouille

Saturday night Andrew went to the Simpsons movie with his friends Rian and Calee. They liked it, but there was no shock or awe. The rest of us watched Practical Magic at home with Pablo. It was good, but a little slow, as it now seems all pre-2000 movies are.
Sunday, Rian came over and we went to the pool for a couple of hours. Afterwards I made a batch of Ratatouille to celebrate Paul and Zoë's triumphant return from San Diego and Tijuana. Here's a picture of Hannah, doing what she does.

Deschutes River Rafting

Maupin, Oregon -
Twelve of us hit the river yesterday for six hours of fun battling with the elements. My shoulders are sore from paddling a kayak the whole time. The only injuries were some minor sunburn spots - the girls - Mali, Zoë, Hannah, Natalie, and Lilly all seemed to get a little burned just under their eyes. They rode high and mostly dry - except for the squirtguns - on the large rafts, manned by Doug and Dave. Paul and I were on the kayak all day, except Andrew took Paul's place for awhile after I pulled him into the river off of the raft he was on. Paul wanted a break so climbed on their raft, and Andrew was so busy squirting him that I easily pulled him off.
We left at 7:00, and didn't get home until 9:00. Susy and Erin both stayed home for a day of peace.

Busy Weekend!

Crazy, busy weekend: Talent show, dance rehearsal, grandparents arrival, fence repair, crazy dinner, dance recital, bathroom remodel, Frisbee golf, dinner, and hot tub!

Friday was the last day of school, and Mali's talent show. She did a fun, short dance with Lauren and Rachel. I walked up to see it with Nancy, Zoë, and Hannah. After school Mali and Rachel went to Lauren's for dinner, then Mali had the dress rehearsal for her dance recital, then returned to Lauren's for a sleepover. We couldn't find her leotard for the rehearsal, so she faked it and Saturday Susy took her to get a new one after we tore the house apart and couldn't find it. It still hasn't turned up.
Saturday morning I sealed the grout on the new tile in the guest bathroom just in time for our guests. I quickly put Grandpa to work taking out the tree in the backyard and fixing the fence. We had a little help from the neighbors.
Then we picked up Zoë, went downtown to drop them off at the Newmark Theater, and went to dinner at Oliver Twist's across the street. Our food finally came about the time the show was starting, but we only missed half of the introductory filmstrip about the history of the Billings Dance Academy. And we got our food for free - if you don't count all the anxiety it induced.
Mali and Zoë did great at the dance - Mali seemed to be front and center for most of the routine. We also got to see Lilly, and Brenna seemed to be in half of the 30 routines.
Sunday was very busy, as I had Grandpa instruct me (while doing most of it!) how to install the wainscoting/beadboard in the downstairs bathroom, along with the sink and new toilet. Such a great guy I am to put him to work on Father's Day! He was great, but I tired him out. I tired me out too.
After they left for their long drive home I cleaned up a little and we all went to McMenamin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove for Frisbee golf and to meet Paul&Family for dinner and to crash in the wonderful Japanese Soaking Pool there. The frisbee was great: Susy had Mali rolling on the ground over her first few frustrated frisbee throws. We were all amazed at Andrew as he managed to perfectly land his frisbee very gently at the very top of a very tall tree. He was a little sad after breaking his sunglasses tossing them down while climbing, but he recovered.

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/
Susy talks Andrew into smiling:


Andrew in the Japanese Soaking Pool:

Dance Recital at Newmark Theater, Downtown Portland:

Nancy Ryles Talent Show, the last day of school:

Rocio's Birthday

Pablo took the usual suspects to Benihana's to celebrate Rocio's birthday. Then we came home and ate Alana's delicious chocolate-Bailey's cake with Pablo's homemade vanilla ice cream!
Here's the kids at Benihana's from my cellphone:

And here's Zoë and Mali back home:

Rocio after blowing out candles:

Saturday with Zoë and Hannah

Andrew went to the doctor for his toe yesterday, and goes in again to get his (half) toenail chopped off on Wednesday. It is not bothering him much now, since the infection is gone. He's ready and eager to start soccer practice Monday.
Tonight we're headed to the Elk Cove Winery for their Roosevelt Club Spring Dinner, with Pablo, Rocio, Paul, and Nancy.
We have Zoë and Hannah for the day. They're outside with Mali now, playing badminton. I'm headed out to plant the mini dahlias I got with Mali at the Beaverton Farmer's Market last Saturday. Now they're blooming.

Soccer, Track, Blueberries, Physics

Coaches meeting tonight for Mali's soccer team. We will be practicing Wednesday and Friday nights starting in August. Same coaches as last year, and all but three of the girls return.

Andrew's track club party was also tonight. I had to leave it early, because of course the coaches meeting was at the same time. Before I left, we ate subway sandwiches, and I saw Andrew run off to the field to play football with some other tracksters.

I made it to the gym today! I went with Nancy and Alana while the kids had swim practice this morning. We're going to try for that everyday.

After we all got home I made the kids blueberry pancakes, using the blueberries Mali picked yesterday with Zoe, Hannah, and Nancy. Then this afternoon Andrew and I made blueberry sorbet. We just tried it, and it turned out good. It is about the easiest thing in the world to make. We put 4 cups of blueberries in the blender with 1 cup of low-fat buttermilk and 1/2 cup of sugar. Blend it together and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. Yum.

Mali is sitting next to me, learning from a Mario Bro's wave action physics tutorial. You can check it out yourself at: Mario physics tutorial

Amazing. I found it from my very favorite, very active, blog:, BoingBoing