Here we are, enjoying the first Friday of the school year. I think the days mean a little more now over the school season than they did over the summer. Our care free days are over, replaced by a rigid schedule....which only allows us to appreciate Fridays more. And with fall, we received a nice dose of heat. Dog days are supposed to be over.
Ethan and Rileigh are still in gymnastics. They are in separate classes that focus on different things, which is seen mostly in that Riles class is all girls, and Ethan's all boys. Yesterday, Ethan was in piano lesson while Riles was in gymnastics, and then Riles was at piano while Ethan was at gymnastics. Keelie got to sit and wait with me, thankful for the iPhone. We may change up that schedule a bit in that maybe Keelie and I will find something else to do.
At home, we have a kiddie basketball hoop in the driveway. The kids have been playing various versions of hoops, to add to their bike riding. We are still working on a yard. Right now, the plan includes a grassy yard being put in next spring.
Ethan has nurtured his genetic predisposition to vids. Lately, it is all we can do to keep him off the computer, away from our iPhones, and away from the TV. He relentlessly requests to play the Wii, the XBOX, ...anything that has a game on it. In his fiddling with the vids, he has found Power Rangers. He found them while searching netflix on the Wii. Almost everyone in the house has been bitten by the bug, succumbed to the addictive properties of the show. Sarah participated in a Power Rangers marathon, while I was away at the ski team's summer training camp in Casper WY. Now, we have a little two year old, running around going: "hi-YAH!", and kicking her leg up in the air. She also attempts to sing the intro song, and I only know this because I can make out "Power Ranger" in a bunch of sing song syllables. ugh. I can only handle so much of the saccharin-y kid show. Maybe distraction is a good plan. Somehow, keep them distracted with other things, so that "we" can squelch the addictive properties. (because I need to keep this thing from taking over the kids psyche. It wont fill them, and they will be worse off for having digested it. I'm not simply thinking of myself and what I need. And since my better half seems to have been affected by the addictive properties of the show, it falls on my shoulders. Distraction seems to be my best option) Riles seems to be simply along for the ride, when it comes to the electronics. She does not bother us with relentless requests to turn on some electronic device or another. But when it is on, she is caught up in the warming glow of its warming glow.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
plugging along
Why not? That is Keelie's new phrase. You say: "You can't go outside.", "We are not watching TV right now" She responds: "Why not?" Usually it puts a smile on your face, it is said in a light hearted way. Still, it opens up my mind to what my reasons are. So now I am trying to defend myself. I dont have to come up with reasons, I just tend to start thinking in the direction of a reason.
Our "scorching" temperatures have reached 82, or something like that. Nice and manegable. It has opened up the minds to pool activities. Lake and pool, pool and lake. Not bad. We have also spent the night on the deck for the past couple of nights, on air matresses. So far it has not gotten old for the kids.
Our "scorching" temperatures have reached 82, or something like that. Nice and manegable. It has opened up the minds to pool activities. Lake and pool, pool and lake. Not bad. We have also spent the night on the deck for the past couple of nights, on air matresses. So far it has not gotten old for the kids.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I Didn't Want To Say Anything
We are the Stewards of two new animals. "Rileigh" is getting a kitten, and "Ethan" got a Dachshund puppy. Apparently, these animals were promised to them. My tone may not be coming across too well, but the crux of the genre is that I am not a fan (in not so many words). And opposition is a strange thing, especially when one must survive among others in order to thrive.
I did not want these additions. (there. I said it.) I consider my life [for all intents and purposes]: full. I do not want any extraneous factors pulling me in their directions- maybe I am lazy. My thinking has been founded in the concept that any new animal to our family will be a service animal. Naturally this is because a service animal will come prepared to use the outside as their toilet. This is no small thing. Excrement on the the floor cannot be rolled around. This is one area bipedals have no understanding. But this extends to further behavior anomalies in which we, said party, would be better off dealt with BEFORE introduction to household. Simply: Shouldn't I be allowed to sleep the whole night through? In the pines, the pines, where the sun don't ever shine.
The plight of which I speak, was not implemented by some Stalinistic regime. I had adequate representation. In order to maintain the Pax Halsted...a my opposing opinion has been weighed and quantified. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one, as someone once put it. As well, how opposed am I to the idea of pets? It would be fair to ask: "what is it that you want? Would I prefer that I had no responsibilities? No one vying for my time, taking it away from my precious...um...sleep time? What else would I be doing?" In other words, It is good to have something to do. A purpose if you will. And the new additions, despite devising new ways to consume time and effort, provide other things which will surface later, specifically in the children when they grow older. In the end, my oposition was not strong enough to hold out against the "Pickets' charge" of favoring opinion.
And as the time passes, I am beckoned, I have a respite in my responsibilities, and my vices call to me. I need to match more crystals, my precious.
I did not want these additions. (there. I said it.) I consider my life [for all intents and purposes]: full. I do not want any extraneous factors pulling me in their directions- maybe I am lazy. My thinking has been founded in the concept that any new animal to our family will be a service animal. Naturally this is because a service animal will come prepared to use the outside as their toilet. This is no small thing. Excrement on the the floor cannot be rolled around. This is one area bipedals have no understanding. But this extends to further behavior anomalies in which we, said party, would be better off dealt with BEFORE introduction to household. Simply: Shouldn't I be allowed to sleep the whole night through? In the pines, the pines, where the sun don't ever shine.
The plight of which I speak, was not implemented by some Stalinistic regime. I had adequate representation. In order to maintain the Pax Halsted...a my opposing opinion has been weighed and quantified. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one, as someone once put it. As well, how opposed am I to the idea of pets? It would be fair to ask: "what is it that you want? Would I prefer that I had no responsibilities? No one vying for my time, taking it away from my precious...um...sleep time? What else would I be doing?" In other words, It is good to have something to do. A purpose if you will. And the new additions, despite devising new ways to consume time and effort, provide other things which will surface later, specifically in the children when they grow older. In the end, my oposition was not strong enough to hold out against the "Pickets' charge" of favoring opinion.
And as the time passes, I am beckoned, I have a respite in my responsibilities, and my vices call to me. I need to match more crystals, my precious.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Was Gonna Never Did Anything
Last week I was in Bend Oregon, on snow, at the ski team's spring camp. It was a good week of training. I was not expecting winter, but that is what we got. Lots of snow, and not that much of the spring slush I was anticipating. I was prepared, somehow, so I did not freeze. I think the biggest plus we got out of last week is that it put all the skiers in one place at one time. Otherwise, it is a fairly expensice endeavor for the gain (in my opinion).
I shared a room, as is the norm for nearly all trips, with one of the "new guys" who happens to be from Hawaii. It also happens that we get along fairly well. [This is not abnormal for me; I seem to be a pretty easy-to-get-alnog-with guy.] This is not always the case, and is one of the factors overlooked when it comes to competition, it seems. We run the risk of restless nights in more noises from all the other people in the hotel and/or having roomates we would rather not be in close proximity with, for days, and weeks on end. Jeremy (my roomate) and I were basically on the same schedule, so things like wake up and lights out, were mostly agreed upon without having to say anything. I think I was rather quiet when I got ready before him in the morning, and I know he never woke me up. We each took our turn either leaving the TV on too long, or watching something the other did not choose, but we did not bug each other (it seems) with these choices. I was introduced to an example of where the roomates did not work out as well, in that one would enter the room, turn on all the lights, TV, bump around with apparent disregard to noise, and then said person accused other of snoring too much. I was glad I was not a part of that room situation, and I chalked up my ability to be undisturbed in my room, to me living with wife, kids, and pets.
At home, somehow, all that flexibility went out the window. Last night was not as restfull a night, as in the hotel. "My schedule" was dictated by the kids, and Sarah. And then, the pets woke me sporadically throughout the night. It seemed that if it was not Keelie sitrring, it was the dog making some noise, or Chesty making some sort of request. It hit me as a sort of "wow" moment. Here I was in a place that I am supposed to be comfortable with all the goings on, and I was more comfortable in the strange place. -The hotel that had a few baseball club teams and families. ...maybe I was more exhausted over the week in Bend...?
Sarah had taken the kids to Portland with her over the weekend, and I met them there on Monday. We drove through the Pugetropolis on the way home, tieing some loose ends. It was a little trip down memory lane of sorts. However, I was most impressed that I only hit a few slow downs, and not the traffic we were setting ourselves up for (we were going through Tacoma-Bellevue-Issaquah at 1600). The kids, naturally were tired of the van, but the little stop in the Gig appeared to help break up the trip for them. Not real quality time, but lots of together time.
I am almost ready to let the kids go at rest stops. It seems, in theory, that at least one of the twins can keep Keelie in line. In practice, however, I need leashes, homing beacons, two way radios and video cameras. It should look somewhat like the Marines in Aliens. I can sit in the command vehicle and see what they are seeing, as well as see where they are in relation to me with map overlays that show terrain relief, street maps, and potential threats. Alas, the scenario is more like the drop off in Finding Nemo. It is a task in itself to keep the twins out of freeway traffic. -to be fair, they are doing a good job. It is simply that they are 1st graders, and not always checking their six. An example, is that we walked across the shopping center parking lot in the Gig, the one with Round Table pizza, McD's, the one off Olympic Dr. It is a fairly chaotic parking lot. Despite the two of them being more concerned with playing hide and seek "Oh! look at the puppies in the window!", they were pretty good. As in: not running out into the drive, inbetween parked and moving cars, running into shoppers, or the construction workers gutting the DMV, etc. I did keep Keelie in my lap for that part of the trip. Funny thing; I actually was more concerned when we made it to our destination -the bike path- that they would get run over by a cyclist. But we were on the path long enough for Riles to get nervous about the "red" ants that make her itch, and the "adult" to calculate that the kids were approaching their limit, and we turned around, and headed back to the parking lot/mom without running into any cyclists. Hmm...so, either I was lucky, or the kids are better than I let on. I suppose I will always have to worry about them and their choices. ...and I never saw this coming?
I shared a room, as is the norm for nearly all trips, with one of the "new guys" who happens to be from Hawaii. It also happens that we get along fairly well. [This is not abnormal for me; I seem to be a pretty easy-to-get-alnog-with guy.] This is not always the case, and is one of the factors overlooked when it comes to competition, it seems. We run the risk of restless nights in more noises from all the other people in the hotel and/or having roomates we would rather not be in close proximity with, for days, and weeks on end. Jeremy (my roomate) and I were basically on the same schedule, so things like wake up and lights out, were mostly agreed upon without having to say anything. I think I was rather quiet when I got ready before him in the morning, and I know he never woke me up. We each took our turn either leaving the TV on too long, or watching something the other did not choose, but we did not bug each other (it seems) with these choices. I was introduced to an example of where the roomates did not work out as well, in that one would enter the room, turn on all the lights, TV, bump around with apparent disregard to noise, and then said person accused other of snoring too much. I was glad I was not a part of that room situation, and I chalked up my ability to be undisturbed in my room, to me living with wife, kids, and pets.
At home, somehow, all that flexibility went out the window. Last night was not as restfull a night, as in the hotel. "My schedule" was dictated by the kids, and Sarah. And then, the pets woke me sporadically throughout the night. It seemed that if it was not Keelie sitrring, it was the dog making some noise, or Chesty making some sort of request. It hit me as a sort of "wow" moment. Here I was in a place that I am supposed to be comfortable with all the goings on, and I was more comfortable in the strange place. -The hotel that had a few baseball club teams and families. ...maybe I was more exhausted over the week in Bend...?
Sarah had taken the kids to Portland with her over the weekend, and I met them there on Monday. We drove through the Pugetropolis on the way home, tieing some loose ends. It was a little trip down memory lane of sorts. However, I was most impressed that I only hit a few slow downs, and not the traffic we were setting ourselves up for (we were going through Tacoma-Bellevue-Issaquah at 1600). The kids, naturally were tired of the van, but the little stop in the Gig appeared to help break up the trip for them. Not real quality time, but lots of together time.
I am almost ready to let the kids go at rest stops. It seems, in theory, that at least one of the twins can keep Keelie in line. In practice, however, I need leashes, homing beacons, two way radios and video cameras. It should look somewhat like the Marines in Aliens. I can sit in the command vehicle and see what they are seeing, as well as see where they are in relation to me with map overlays that show terrain relief, street maps, and potential threats. Alas, the scenario is more like the drop off in Finding Nemo. It is a task in itself to keep the twins out of freeway traffic. -to be fair, they are doing a good job. It is simply that they are 1st graders, and not always checking their six. An example, is that we walked across the shopping center parking lot in the Gig, the one with Round Table pizza, McD's, the one off Olympic Dr. It is a fairly chaotic parking lot. Despite the two of them being more concerned with playing hide and seek "Oh! look at the puppies in the window!", they were pretty good. As in: not running out into the drive, inbetween parked and moving cars, running into shoppers, or the construction workers gutting the DMV, etc. I did keep Keelie in my lap for that part of the trip. Funny thing; I actually was more concerned when we made it to our destination -the bike path- that they would get run over by a cyclist. But we were on the path long enough for Riles to get nervous about the "red" ants that make her itch, and the "adult" to calculate that the kids were approaching their limit, and we turned around, and headed back to the parking lot/mom without running into any cyclists. Hmm...so, either I was lucky, or the kids are better than I let on. I suppose I will always have to worry about them and their choices. ...and I never saw this coming?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Let Them Have Their Tar Tar Sauce
Spring has not been ready to sprung. We had snow showers into May. We have had sun, and warm, but not consistent enough to feel into the mood. This last week, we seemed to turn a corner. There were fair days quite often, with a weather report threatening rain "tomorrow". We got the rain this afternoon. And we got a pretty good juke this morning, with a red sunrise. Then it cleared, and felt like summer. Now we have the rain.
Ethan had his last game of the spring soccer season. They have done well. It is interesting to see their growth. I do have to sit back and remind myself that they are 7yr olds. But then they string together some passes, or cover someone elses' position and it makes them look good. Because in the next instant, they are running into each other (their own team mates), tripping over their own feet, or whiffing so hard they fall down on a slowly rolling ball. Ethan was into every moment he was on the field, and was a little upset that the coach took him out. We had good weather for the game this weekend.
Riles is having fun in Gymnastics. At least she comes home telling me a lot of stories. Using words I am supposed to understand. I suppose I should learn, for her sake, so I can at least feign interest. I can appreciate the physical exertion, and skill. I think it also helps Sarah, because she does not have to sit outside in the elements to watch.
Today, I watched them head across the street to the neighbors. Ethan asked if he could go across the street, and took my pause as a "yes". Silence means approval I guess. Riles just went. Before I knew what was happening (I was watching after Keelie, so I am not a complete dolt), I can see through the front window, Ethan and Rieligh in our neighbors driveway. Riles was hanging back a bit, but Ethan went right up to the neighbor kids' scooter and started riding. The kids were not out in the yard. I had half a mind to get over there and explain that one cannot just play on/with others toys. But I only had half a mind, so I sat there stewing, hoping, that something completely inappropriate would not happen. Then he went searching for the kids, up to the front door, into the yard, just walked around like he owned the place. Riles stayed put. Eventually they did meet up with the neighbor kids, and played for a while (I got the scoop after they got home). But it was interesting to see how Riles hung back, and Ethan charged in, seemingly fearless.
Keelie is talking in a language we don't speak. And She's talking it to us.
There are words present, we simply have to figure out what it is she is trying to communicate. One of the simple things, is that she mixes up gender. She calls me Mommie, and Sarah Daddie. The funny part is that she will do this in the same sentence. -Right now, she is echoing Wii sports baseball: strike. Ball. but "foul ball" is boona type word, which has morphed to a "pah baw" type word. Double is being repeated over and over. - She says up, when she means down, and visa-versa. Holjieu for hold you, which actually means hold me. "Hep you" is Help you which actually means help me. Share is a one way street. (She is 21 mo. so, I should not be surprised) When she says share, she really means let me have some. It DOES NOT go the other way around. There is one word, that sounds like K-hadi, which is used allot. Sometimes in a sentence. And there is frustration when we do not comply. We have yet to figure out what the word means.
The Wii baseball game has turned into a sort of couch WWE type event. There is a lot of noise, and one would think they are fighting at times. But they are not leaving the couch. And there seems to be an understanding. That maybe pain comes with the territory. Anyway, I gotta step in before it gets out of hand....
Ethan had his last game of the spring soccer season. They have done well. It is interesting to see their growth. I do have to sit back and remind myself that they are 7yr olds. But then they string together some passes, or cover someone elses' position and it makes them look good. Because in the next instant, they are running into each other (their own team mates), tripping over their own feet, or whiffing so hard they fall down on a slowly rolling ball. Ethan was into every moment he was on the field, and was a little upset that the coach took him out. We had good weather for the game this weekend.
Riles is having fun in Gymnastics. At least she comes home telling me a lot of stories. Using words I am supposed to understand. I suppose I should learn, for her sake, so I can at least feign interest. I can appreciate the physical exertion, and skill. I think it also helps Sarah, because she does not have to sit outside in the elements to watch.
Today, I watched them head across the street to the neighbors. Ethan asked if he could go across the street, and took my pause as a "yes". Silence means approval I guess. Riles just went. Before I knew what was happening (I was watching after Keelie, so I am not a complete dolt), I can see through the front window, Ethan and Rieligh in our neighbors driveway. Riles was hanging back a bit, but Ethan went right up to the neighbor kids' scooter and started riding. The kids were not out in the yard. I had half a mind to get over there and explain that one cannot just play on/with others toys. But I only had half a mind, so I sat there stewing, hoping, that something completely inappropriate would not happen. Then he went searching for the kids, up to the front door, into the yard, just walked around like he owned the place. Riles stayed put. Eventually they did meet up with the neighbor kids, and played for a while (I got the scoop after they got home). But it was interesting to see how Riles hung back, and Ethan charged in, seemingly fearless.
Keelie is talking in a language we don't speak. And She's talking it to us.
There are words present, we simply have to figure out what it is she is trying to communicate. One of the simple things, is that she mixes up gender. She calls me Mommie, and Sarah Daddie. The funny part is that she will do this in the same sentence. -Right now, she is echoing Wii sports baseball: strike. Ball. but "foul ball" is boona type word, which has morphed to a "pah baw" type word. Double is being repeated over and over. - She says up, when she means down, and visa-versa. Holjieu for hold you, which actually means hold me. "Hep you" is Help you which actually means help me. Share is a one way street. (She is 21 mo. so, I should not be surprised) When she says share, she really means let me have some. It DOES NOT go the other way around. There is one word, that sounds like K-hadi, which is used allot. Sometimes in a sentence. And there is frustration when we do not comply. We have yet to figure out what the word means.
The Wii baseball game has turned into a sort of couch WWE type event. There is a lot of noise, and one would think they are fighting at times. But they are not leaving the couch. And there seems to be an understanding. That maybe pain comes with the territory. Anyway, I gotta step in before it gets out of hand....
Friday, April 29, 2011
I know I know
ground breaking in the fall of '09
and the building continues fall '10
Dec '10, we have the house and we are using it as we intended
Sheesh. -in a couple different ways.
1. Yes I know, I have not updated the blog in a while.
2.Wow, it has been a while since I updated.
3. It is interesting how motivation works.
2.Wow, it has been a while since I updated.
3. It is interesting how motivation works.
So, we are in fact in the house in Elk Horn Ranch "Estates". In all the files, this house is the "new house" -which it still is- but I find it hard to refer to this place as the new house anymore. It seems more like "the" house. Well, we have been in the house since early December, which has given us..one, two...five months to unpack. And we are not there yet. (glad I'm not active duty anymore or we would have to PCS as soon as we got moved in) It has been interesting finding things we have not used in over two years....and then wondering why we kept it. And of course, there is stuff which I am looking for, and have not found yet. Then I wonder why I am still looking for it. ...in other words, we are getting another lesson in hoarding.
This summer, we plan to spend in the garage, getting all the boxes opened and all the contents put where they belong. And we are constantly thinking about the land around us, and how we fell short in the budget to get what we were planning on. So, the yard and how that is all going to happen is on our list.
I have a list developing of the few shelves and things that need to go up in the house, but those ideas are consistently shuffled aside with a wave of the hand by the E-10.
The kids are ready for summer, school-wise. Rileigh has informed us that she is fed up with school. Nice, as she has 11 more years before she graduates from high school. Otherwise 1st grade has gone well. Being in two separate classrooms has not had any visible adverse effects. Every now and then there will be a discussion about how they sing the alphabet song differently, or some other difference learning tool used in their respective class rooms. There does not seem to be any issues with having separate social circles. Ethan appears to be the more gregarious, which seems a bit odd to me. I was prepared for visa-versa. That may be to my view from a distance, and lets not be to hasty jumping to conclusions Mr. Halsted. All right, but it is in my nature. I know I shouldn't, but I'm like the scorpion riding on the fox's back. I drown too, but I just couldn't help myself in stinging the fox. -I digress-
It is interesting to see how fast they have picked up some concepts. Listening to them read now is much different than the struggles they had in September. Even though I am a little impatient sometimes with the fact that they are in 1st grade, it is impressive to see what they can do. -I remember getting an Internet joke a few years back, where a guy graded his kids' efforts from preschool (or something). "Fire trucks are not blue, F"
Four more weeks, and they will be free of the rigorous schedule of elementary school, and stuck in the mire of being home with nothing to do all day. (I'm not ready for that)
Riles is at Gymnastics twice a week, and Ethan goes once a week. Though they both are progressing well, Riles seems more enthusiastic about growing in this area. Keelie has attended some mother toddler gym, though not all that much as schedules have not favored that endeavour.
Ethan is the only one in soccer at the moment. They have progressed from a small field and little goals, to a field half the size and goals 1/4 the actual size. They are working on position now, and passing, which is a relief to me. Watching maggot ball was rather taxing. It is still a little straining on the nerves to watch them struggle with off-sides, and moving to an open space, and covering positions, and throwing the ball in to your own teammate, and....oh ...yeah, they are only 6-8 yr olds. The point is, it is better than it was, the improvement is apparent. ....and there is still so much more to go.
Keelie is up and about. Seems like she should be getting up with the twins and heading to school, sometimes. She counts. She "says" her ABC's. OK, we can't get any official awards for what she can do, but she does seem to be getting along better than the twins. And then, we come to the part about how she is trying on this whiny, if I cry I'll get what I want shtick. ugh. Its almost like two steps forward three steps back. She also seems to be more vocal than the twins ...put together. Very active. Either up, or down. So we get fussy baby, who is inconsolable and then a moment latter happy sunshine rainbows and lollipops child. And it goes from good to bad as well as bad to good. I would say borderline schizophrenic, because its like the first mood never existed, when she switches mood. Keeps Dad on his toes. I tend to want to: "Hey, wait! what was so terrible a few moments ago, and now I'm supposed to be all cool?". I suppose this should be a lesson for me to "let things go", "water under the bridge", "yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery" type thing.
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