At the Beach

Steve and I are in Manzanita for a couple of relaxing days.  This is an annual trip we normally take with our friends the Peelers to celebrate the New Year.   They weren't able to come and we miss them but are glad we have a couple of days to bum around.  I'm reading, Steve's writing, we have a room with a great view and we're watching it rain sideways. 
-Holly

The Last Santa Letter

Here is this year's letter from St. Nicholas.  The paper doesn't fit on the scanner, so we had to take pictures.  It didn't turn out great so if you'd rather, you can read it typed up.  (Facebookers, if the links don't show up in this post you can go to ourrandomdays.com)

For those not familiar with the letters, here's a quick explanation.  Daniel Elf is the head elf, Phil is a Polar Bear, Ms. Alice a penguin, and QWERTs are the Quick Wrapping Efficient Robot Team.

This is the 11th letter the boys received and will be the last.  I (Steve) began them in 2001 when Joe was 3 and Tim was 6 months.  They were a lot of fun to do and we would re-read the older letters as it got close to Christmas.

The boys have grown up enough they still enjoy them but it's not the same as when they were little and the letters were a real treat they looked forward to finding on Christmas morning.  It's nice that they appreciate that I write them and Holly illustrates them, but it feels like it's time to be done with this tradition.

If anyone has read this far and is interested, here is the original letter from 2001 where Daniel Elf got stuck in the train's smoke stack for the first time.  There is a little water damage on the original copy, but Holly patched it up this year so we scanned it in before something like that happened again.

It's All About the Magic Hat

Here is the solution when your parents tell you to get you hair wet and put a hat on so it doesn't look like you're being raised by orangutangs that don't care about personal grooming.  We were hoping it was a magic hat that would make his hair lay down flat.  It didn't.

Preperations

We are very close to being ready for Christmas.  The house is ready, it's all the other odds and ends we haven't taken care of yet.  Steve and the boys are out of school and Holly got to join them starting today.  Soon all our Christmas letters will be in the mail, all the cookies cooked, and presents wrapped.  This year we may actually finish ahead of time!

Leaf Time

Steve blogging here.  Last month the boys helped rake and bag all the leaves.  This included putting them into the big paper sacks Holly bought.  While she was around the corner Tim climbed in one of the sacks.  Joe filled it up with leaves and then shouted at Holly the bag was too heavy for him to move, he needed help.

She made them wait at least ten minutes while she finished raking leaves in the back.  Finally,  she came around to the front yard.  She went to pick the bag up and move it, Tim jumped out, screamed, and scared her pretty good.

Of course I was very angry and upset they'd done this, and not gotten it on video tape.  Now they know better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had all the Bullock's and Denniston's in the area over to our house for Thanksgiving again this year.  The food was delicious (thanks to everyone for bringing a side dish!!) and it was a nice afternoon of talking, Jenga and Uno.

Another Typical Weekend: Visiting Aunts, Grandma Birthdays, Sci-Fi Authors

A great fun and busy weekend!  Aunt Heather was visiting so we spent a lot of time hanging out, including watching the Beavers football game together.  Grandma Denniston celebrated another birthday and we had some delicious ice cream cake.

And to finish the weekend Powell's had 15 science fiction authors signing books in Beaverton.  Joe took two books to get signed.  Dragon and Thief by Timothy Zahn and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Steve stood in line with Joe and picked up a copy of The Dispossessed for Le Guin to sign.  It was a busy event but worth the wait, Joe really liked meeting both authors.

 Tim wandered around until the Star Wars people showed up.  It took a little coaxing by Holly but he finally posed for a picture with them.

Student of the Month and Carrot of the Season

Joe was selected as Student of the Month for October.  His band teacher nominated him for the prize.  Holly took his picture and he's smiling more than he did for his Student of the Month Picture.  Amazing!

Tim helped Holly clear out the last of the raised beds a couple weeks ago.  The carrots did pretty good and we used most of them in a soup since the weather turned cold and rainy.

Happy Halloween

It was the Moreland Monster March on Sunday.  Joe went as a Templar Knight and Tim went as the Black Knight from Monty Python ("It's just a flesh wound!").  It might be hard to see in the picture but he's carrying his left arm.

It kind of rained, but not quite, so Tim left his helmet at home to keep it dry for the official big night on Monday.  Joe (playing bass clarinet) led the parade with the Sellwood Band.  Tim walked it with his friend Elias and Elias' sister, Melanie.

Tim thinks this is the best kind of parade - the local merchants stand outside of their businesses handing out candy to the kids as they walk by.

Underwater Vacation

We had free admission to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, so we headed that way last weekend.  We were there a couple years ago but most of the exhibits are fun to go through again.

This time we also got to see the otters being fed, an alligator snapping turtle (sorry, no picture) and some piranha.  We had a good time even though we couldn't get Joe to touch the sea cucumber.  Again.

Game Night on Thursdays

Holly is teaching her Grad class again at PSU about Human Resources in nonprofits.  This means on Thursdays after the homework is done the boys and I get out a board game. 

Last week it was SmallWorld and Joe won.  This week it will likely be Wicked Witches Way, a game we usually play around Halloween.  To supplement our Halloween themed games we picked up Zombie Fluxx and played it this afternoon (Holly won).

-Steve

Birthday Birthday

Holly and her mom celebrated their birthdays on Sunday.  There were presents, songs, lasagna, and cake that glowed a dark green on the inside.

A Little Paddling

Our friends from Santa Barbara were in Portland visiting last week.  Tiffani and I canoed together regularly when Tim was a baby and often Joe would go with us, serving as Cleopatra in the middle.  So it was only natural that when she was in town with her family (we got to meet Matthew!), we had to get on the water.  The weather was incredible - when we got to the Sellwood Bridge (we put in at Willamette Park), Tim paused to enjoy the shade and have a snack (see picture on the left).  On the return trip the boys took a dip. 

The picture below is Karl and Tiffani - you can't see their son, Matthew, sleeping on Karl's lap. Some other Portland friends of Tiffani and Karl's joined us (the Coppock's below on the right) taking our canoe, Laverne, out for a spin. 

Steve stayed behind at the house, kept his foot up, and made sure lunch was ready for the hungry hordes!

-Holly

First Day of School

The boys had their first day of school yesterday.  Tim is in fifth and Joe is in eighth (the big kids on campus).  They both had good days getting to know their teachers and catching up with old friends.

The Deck

Thanks to Grandpa Denniston we have a new deck in the back yard.  No more tri-sectioned weirdness that looked nice but wasn't practical.  Steve wasn't much help (still booted and not really mobile at the time) but luckily our friend Tom came to help take it apart and Steve's nephew Brad pitched in for a day.  A big thanks to both of them and especially Grandpa Denniston!!

Paulina Lake, Take 2

For the second year, we joined our friends (Isaac and Leo and their parents Jennifer and Tom) at Paulina Lake in the Newberry Caldera near Bend, Oregon for five days of kayaking, swimming, exploring and just plain fun.  Our cabin was a few steps from Paulina Lake and the mosquitoes were not quite as bad this year.

Steve was able to join us in most of the activities, but he opted out of the hike to the hot springs (a stinky adventure thanks to the smell of sulfur) on the far side of the lake.

The boys were pretty amazing in their kayaks - zipping this way and that.  One afternoon we flipped a kayak to jump off of and the next day Joe and Isaac unintentionally swamped another as Joe tried to make sure Isaac joined him in the lake (and kept laughing as they paddled to shore).



We also took in some of the volcanic sites, checked out Sun River (is that a real town?) and found the most amazing home made donut place at a truck stop in La Pine (Wickiup Junction) where Joe said they make the best maple bars ever and Steve was quite impressed with the donut hole skewers.

-Holly

Life Guard in Training

Joe is taking the Junior Lifeguard class at the pool closest to our house.  Yesterday they got to jump in the pool with all their clothes on and inflate their jeans to make them float better.

Today they practiced their rescues again, as well as class room work of CPR and "stuff".

Zoo Camp

While Joe was at Trout Creek Bible Camp, Tim went to Zoo camp.  Since Tim took a camera and Joe didn't, we have some pictures of zoo camp to share!






(Facebookers, click through to the blog to see the slideshow)

Tim Turns 10!

We celebrated Tim's birthday the past two weekends.  A week ago he invited some friends over and they went swimming at an indoor wave pool and came back for presents and cup cakes.

This weekend our families came over for a party.  We had a good time with everyone, especially Tim who is glad to be in double digits now.

Off to Camp

Joe and his friend Isaac are off to Trout Creek Bible Camp for the week.  They went together last year, had a good time, and wanted to do it together again.  This year they want to do the paintball games.  And BMX course, and bb guns, and lots of swimming.  We  hope they sleep a little bit too. 

Another Summer Sleeping in the Tent

We set the tent up in the backyard the week after school was out.  Joe joined Tim for the first night and hasn't returned, especially since the neighborhood skunk made several appearances (a-smell-ances?).  The skunk doesn't bother Tim and he's enjoying his summer room.

Summer Fun

The boys walked up and got their free Slurpies on Monday.  Tim's was flavored red.

Pick of the Week

Dixon Ticonderoga, the Zine that I (Steve) was published in last year, was chosen as a Staff Pick this week by Multnomah County Library. 

I'm incredibly happy the library highlighted this Zine.  Many excellent writers and artists worked on it and much of it's beauty is the hand lettering done by Stevan Allred.  He re-wrote everything in pencil for the publication.

You can check it out (Multnomah residents only, sorry) but there is already a wait list on the library's eight copies.  If you want your own copy, let me know-Stevan is still selling copies.

Joe is a Teenager!

Joe turned 13 yesterday.  We filled his room up with balloons while he slept and then covered his door with a birthday message.  Evidently the dog did not approve.

We celebrated with presents in the morning and then a movie and pizza that night (Steve's first trip out of the house since his surgery!).  Today we had the family over for some more presents and cake with candles that wouldn't go out. 

Home Again

The surgery went well yesterday.  The surgeon said the achilles stitched back together without any problems.   Now I'm in a splint that's all wrapped up.  I can't put any weight on it for two weeks, until I go visit the doctor again.  If it looks good at that point I get a different cast/boot/thing and start physical therapy.

Although I got a wheel chair ride out of the hospital, they sent me home with a walker.  The boys are plotting how it should be decorated.  Negotiations will need to happen.

Thank God it wasn't Zombie Rot

The picture on the right is from April, although I (Steve) made it turn those colors again last weekend after my ankle made another nasty pop sound.  Thank goodness the (different) doctor I saw knew what I'd done.

It turns out I tore my achilles tendon.  That was clear back on April 30th.  It took the medical profession (that is, three doctor visits) a while to figure it out.  The result is surgery to repair it on Wednesday and then a lot of sitting around while it heals.  Which was my plan for the summer anyway so it works out all right.

Turns out Zombie Rot is a little more green, so I'd been worrying about the wrong thing.

-Steve

School's Out For Summer!

Vacation started for the boys on Wednesday.  A day with Grandparents Bullock followed by Grandparents Denniston on Thursday.  On Friday, I (Steve) finished up at school and joined the boys.  Poor Holly, she has to put up with us.  We try and make up for it by the occasional picnic lunch we take to her work.  Below are the first and last day of school pictures.

This and That

In between all of the sewer chaos, travels, readings and end of school prep, we're getting the garden ready.  We had a load of compost dropped in our driveway to split with our neighbor and the boys helped load the wheelbarrow.  As of this afternoon, the driveway is empty again!  Tim is disappointed he won't have a big pile of dirt to poke at with big sticks anymore.





This afternoon, Steve and I ran rope up to the eaves to grow hops.  The purpose is to shade the south side of the house (particularly Joe's window), but I'm thinking Steve is really planning to trade home grown hops for good home brewed beer.

Batsy was puzzled by Steve being on the roof.  She could hear him, but it took her a while to find him. 

Two days of school left for the boys and four for Steve.  Summer, here we come!

-Holly