Lights and Camera

Earlier tonight the boys and I (Steve) played with some of the Christmas lights in the back yard.  We tried a lot of different patterns and ideas, most of them worked out pretty well.  There are more in the slide show below.

Then, when it was midnight on the East Coast, we met the neighbors out front and set off all the fireworks we'd bought cheap last July 5th.
We had a good time saying goodbye to 2012.

The Post-Christmas Post

 We had fun with our multi-day celebration of Christmas.  The best part was spending time with family.  The Denniston clan gathered Christmas Eve (thanks cousin/nephew Jon for the duct tape wrapping jobs!), and the Bullocks on Christmas Day.  Below cousin/niece Sidra shows off her new dress and scarf with Tim's latest moustache.

The Tree is Up!

 We got our tree on Saturday and decorated it on Sunday.  We've been holidaying the house slowly for a couple weeks now, so the tree was the last thing to be done.  There is always a lengthy discussion about who gets to put the star on top of the tree, so for future reference: Joe did it this year.

Steve and the boys are already on Christmas Break this week, Holly will take some time off starting later in the week.  No huge plans except relaxing and getting ready for Christmas.  At times those two things are opposite of each other, but that's all right, we'll have fun getting everything done.

Pass the Dice!

We've been playing a lot of board games lately, and sometimes remembering to snap a picture or two.

The boys love Cosmic Encounter, so in between that we've also played Settlers of Catan, Hearts, Dominion, Risk, Memoir 44, Fluxx, and probably a few others I can't remember.  So many games, so little time.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

All the Dennistons and Bullocks in the metro area came to our house for Thanksgiving. We played some games, ate some turkey, watched a little football, and finished everything off with pie.

Actually, the game playing went on for most of the weekend for us.  We rented a game (Lords of the Waterdeep) from our neighborhood game store and played it quite a few times.

On Saturday we went out to the Grandparents Bullock for some pizza and to watch the Civil War game (Ducks vs Beavers).  The boys (Beavers fans) enjoyed the pizza.  Holly and Steve (Duck fans) enjoyed the pizza and the football game.

The Saga of the Leaves

We have a beautiful big leaf maple tree in our parking strip.  It's fabulous in the summer, providing lots of shade (our house faces west).  In the fall, it dumps lots and lots of leaves.  The boys get the job of raking them up, and since last Fall they have a dynamic duo (they're standing under the tree in the background) who live across the street who provide a running commentary throughout the process.

Needless to say, what should take less than an hour can take a whole afternoon.  The boys kept throwing leaves at each other and goofing around to make the twins laugh (and taunt) them.  All four of them had a good time.

Hanging out at a coffee shop

Last week the boys' good friend Isaac came over.  Steve was out of town and that was also the only time I could get myself in for a haircut.  Instead of getting an ice cream cone near the salon, the boys opted to hang out at a nearby coffee shop to play Zombie Fluxx. 
-Holly

While Steve was off for a weekend of Whist . . .

 . . . the boys and I had an overnight with Grandpa and Sidra (my mom was off with her friends for a night at the beach).  Sidra and I slept in a tent in the living room, the rest of the party opted for more traditional sleeping arrangements.  We had fun reading Tajar tales, eating pizza and pancakes (and waffles), playing Chinese checkers with the board my great-grandfather made, picking Grandma's kiwis, playing Strawberry Shortcake, coloring fairies and princesses, etc.   


 When we got home on Saturday at lunch, I started painting the kitchen.  Not too bad a color for $10 recycled metro paint!

Getting Ready for Halloween!

The boys and a few other kids from their youth group trooped out to Sauvie's Island to pick pumpkins for the annual church courtyard pumpkin patch fundraiser.  Despite the small numbers, they had a lot of fun.

Tim and Holly carved the pumpkins this year (with Joe providing a running commentary).  Unfortunately when we put Tim's pumpkin outside, it got a little sick

What!?! Steve is blogging about his writing?

That's right, I'm actually doing some self promotion.   I wrote an essay that was published in Brave on the Page: Oregon Writers on Craft and the Creative Life.  It's a collection of interviews by Laura Stanfill, and short essays by a number of Oregon authors.

The book was released through Forest Avenue Press and uses the Espresso Book Machine to print the books.  It's like a photocopier, only it makes books!  Actually, it's pretty impressive to watch the books being made.

Laura did an amazing job with this book.  She is a smart interviewer, gentle editor, and quite brave herself publishing this book.

If you are interested in picking up a book you can check this map, any place there is an Espresso Book Machine it can print a copy of Brave on the Page.  You can also have a copy shipped through this website.

-Steve

Tim Does Outdoor School

Tim returned Friday afternoon after a few days at Outdoor School.  He was at Camp Namanu on the Sandy River.  The weather was glorious and he had a great time - learning lots, singing songs, playing games, star gazing.  Thankfully, slug licking wasn't on the agenda.  Showers weren't either.  To the left is the motley crew from the Willamette Cabin. 

Tim was  proud to be in the group that helped plant trees.  Here's a tree he planted pictured on the right.  

Last Spring we were told that Outdoor School for 6th graders was part of the district-wide budget cuts.  When the school year started, we found out that the kids were going to be able to go for a partial week (with families chipping in).  Thanks to the Friends of Outdoor School who have kept this amazing opportunity available to all of the kids in Multnomah County!

Holly Turned 40!

Holly turned 40 back on September 23, and we had a big party the day before to celebrate.  Family, friends from all aspects of her life, coworkers and neighbors past and present came by to say hi, eat, and visit.  Thankfully the weather cooperated (there wouldn't have been enough room inside!).  Here's a picture as things were getting started. 

The rest of the weekend was birthday and family oriented since Holly's sister was in town (it was their mom's birthday on the 21st).   

Tim joins Sellwood's Jazz Band!

Tim tried out and was chosen to be one of the two drummers in Sellwood Middle School's Jazz Band.  He's pretty excited and we're proud of him.  He's the only sixth grader this year - the rest of the kids are 7th and 8th graders.

We'll keep folks posted of different gigs around town.

Cleveland is 2-0!

Joe played in his second football game today against Roosevelt High School.  Cleveland won 28-18.  Each game he's getting more playing time and is having fun trying out new positions and learning new plays.

In this photo he's looking down the line at the far side - #84.

He's also enjoying high school and the fact that they can have lunch off campus. 

Even if he doesn't have the ball hit him!

Last weekend I (Joe) played in my first football game for Cleveland, well it wasn't an actual game. You had half the field to play and you had 15 plays on offense and then played 15 plays on defense. Our first scrimmage was against the Wilson JV team. I didn't get any play time that game. We lost that scrimmage. It turned that my parents and brother were watching the wrong team for most of the scrimmage and that was because mom didn't know what the Cleveland jerseys looked like and they didn't know my number since it had changed!

If you can see me I am on the far side of the field (#84)

Our next scrimmage was against St. Helen's JV team. For this scrimmage my team got to start out on offense and I got to be the starting tight end, so I got to stay in for 5 or 6 plays. By the end of the scrimmage the score was 14-0 Cleveland.

First Day of School

Joe started high school this morning and Tim started middle school.  Both had good days and are excited and nervous about the rest of the week.

August was Blog-er-ific (minus the blog posts)

We know, not a lot went up on the blog in August.  So here is a quick run down of what we didn't post about.

• Joe went to Trout Creek Bible Camp and kissed the moose a lot. Thanks to everyone who sent him letters and packages (1 package or 3 or more letters and he had to kiss the moose head).
• Tim finished his first summer of Swim Team and completed a Jr. Lifeguard class.
• Joe is on the Frosh/Soph Cleveland Football team.  This is his first time playing football.
• The tent is set up in the back yard and Tim has been occasionally sleeping in it.  He heard there are coyotes in the neighborhood and hasn't slept out as much since then.
• Steve turned 42.  That's enough about that.
• Holly went to Las Vegas on a business trip, came back and bought a tandem kayak.  Those two things are unrelated although it feels like there should be a connection.

Diving in!

Tim (in the red swim suit) diving in at his first swim meet.  Joe took the picture.

Tim Turns 11!!

Tim turned 11 on Monday.  We celebrated with most of the family on Sunday afternoon (it was CHILLY!).  The next day he was off to OMSI's Master Chemist day camp (which was a birthday present).   He wore his hydrogen shirt (on the right, thanks (g)Uncle!) to the first day - the instructor's loved it.

The drive to and from camp has been interesting with him sharing weird and random science stories from a new book (another birthday present.)

Suttle Lake

Here are a few more pictures we didn't put on Facebook from our trip.  Including kayaking in the rain, which was actually fun.  

Camping at Harris Beach

We camped at the south coast of Oregon, just north of California for five days.  The weather stayed dry, not exactly warm, but we were happy not to get rained on in the tent.

We spent a lot of time down at the beach, made a trip into California to the Redwoods where we hiked around the huge trees, and cooked a lot of smores.