Stomach Flu - MAJOR YUCK!!

So first Thursday night Riley gets sick with this, is out of it Friday but better Saturday. Sunday night late Marci gets it, is out Monday, better Tuesday. Which is good because Tuesday Rich got it and was out Wednesday, better Thursday. Oh, and in there Maddie caught it a little, but not as bad as we had it. Whew!

Man, this thing was nasty! Rich normally doesn't throw up unless his body makes him, he will actually lay on the floor in various positions waiting for hours until he doesn't have the throw up where Marci will throw up much more quickly and feel better more quickly too. This time within two hours, Rich HAD to throw up, he didn't have a choice!

It appears to have been a 24-hour thing, though it took another two days to feel back to normal. We sure hope no one else has gotten this!

Washing moss off a roof

Today we went over to Rich's parents. They have a really big oak tree right next to their house that has caused a lot of moss to grow on the roof as well as drop a lot of little twigs, leaves, and other stuff on the roof.

Rich got up there with the hose and sprayed off all the moss and stuff. Well, most of the moss, there was still a tiny bit left, couldn't get it all with just the hose. That took about an hour. Rich was a little worried about getting up on the roof, one of those age things where it was no big deal when he was 18 but feeling a little more mortal at 43. He used to do it all the time and in high school, he and some friends re-roofed the house. Once he got up there he remembered how easy it was to climb around on the roof and had no problems. Whew!

Marci was inside with the kids and Rich's Mom playing, getting lunch/dinner ready, and doing other stuff. It was a nice break in the day and everyone had fun, especially the kids.

We also went shopping today for some pants for Marci. While at Kohls, we found a king size bed set - comforter, sheets, pillow cases, etc - that was on sale; 80% off!! It was originally $159, and we bought it for $29!!! Couldn't pass that up. One of the downsides of having a nice big king sized bed (actually California king size) is bedding costs a lot. This was a very nice find! Kohls is our new fav store. :)

It's 8:46pm, Maddie is asleep and Riley is getting there. Rich has some work to do at 9:30pm and Marci is watching tv while eating popcorn. It was a good day all-around!

Fun Labor Day Weekend

We had a great 3 days! Saturday we went to the state fair. Spent about 4-5 hours walking around, letting Riley play some games (he beat Mommy at one and won a prize). It was hot, but lots of fun. Sunday and Monday were nice days at home, doing some work in and around the house. All in all, it was very nice and we wish it could have continued several more days. :)

Last night when we got home from shopping, we let the dogs in. Marci then put a bunch of dog cookies out so Maddie could give them to the dogs. We'd tell her, "Give one to Frankie," and she'd go get one then give it to Frankie - she DOES know which dog is which. It's soooo cute to watch!

Riley got TWO Halloween costumes, The Thing from the Fantastic 4 and a Mutant Ninja Turtle - they were both closeouts so cost us less than one new one. He's not sure which one he wants to be, but had fun wearing them both.

Now back to work for both of us, back to Pre-school for Riley, and for Maddie, well, just another day as usual. haha

This last weekend, 8/26 - 8/27, we went to the beach - Neskowin to be exact. My Mom's sister owns a condo there that anyone in the family can use. So we went with my parents.

It was in the 90's Sat and Sun here in Portland, but around the 80's and partly foggy at the beach. We had a GREAT time! It was Maddie's first time to the beach and she loved it! Riley also had a blast. Both Riley and I had fun digging in the sand.

For those who don't know the area, there's a river that runs right by the condo to the ocean, and it is VERY shallow, you can easily walk across it. That's where Riley and I built a little sand fortress. First we built a sand barrier out into the river, then bailed the water out of the area we dammed off, then dug a big hole in the middle. It was silly yet fun. As soon as we left a couple other kids who were watching us jumped on it and started to play. LOL!

Riley slept really well, but Maddie was restless and woke up with a cold. :( Poor girl! Sunday it was very foggy and you couldn't see the ocean from our condo. It took us a little over 2 hours to get home and Maddie slept the whole way, which was good, she needed it. Riley crashed the last 30-40 minutes.

A great weekend for everyone, I think Mom and Dad had fun too! We're all sore and looking forward to a good night of sleep - if I can get Riley to sleep that is. LOL!!!

Here are the photos I took:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richtpt/sets/72157594254236392/

powered by performancing firefox

Riley & Maddie update

It's been awhile so thought I'd tell a few things that happened today.

We took the training wheels off Riley's bike and Rich worked with him. He was a little scared, but tried it and did pretty good, though Rich hung on to him 99.9% of the time (he let go for a second or less now and then). Riley agreed he wants to practice this every night so he can learn to ride by himself. He has really good balance so it shouldn't take too long.

Maddie can't talk yet, but she knows what we are saying. We've noticed this a lot and here's a great example. Rich picked her up this evening and sat down with her. She was screaming and squirming like crazy, didn't want to sit with him. He said, "Maddie, I just want to take your shoes and socks off." She stopped struggling, layed back and put her feet up! It was so cute!

It's been a busy summer, lots going on, not much time to think, but fun. We've been to the Zoo several times, that membership has easily paid for itself! We can't believe it's almost September - ARGH! Where did the summer go? Good thing Oregon has a nice summer through Sept and part of Oct.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Old Billy's Brass Band Videos on YouTube.com

I found and uploaded some video from my old band, Billy's Brass Band, to
YouTube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=richtpt

The quality isn't great because the software I used many years ago wasn't that good. If I ever

get time I'll recapture them again and repost better versions. But for now this
is fun. :)

Rich

powered by performancing firefox

HOT!!

It got up to 104 today!  Our house was only 85, which was nice compared to outside, but still hot.  Fortunately we have a window AC unit in our bedroom, so that room is nice and cool.  Marci went out with some friends and I took the kids over to my parents, they have AC in their house.  We had a good two hours, then came home.  Both of them fell asleep on the way - whew!  I was able to get them from the car to bed without them waking up, so now I'm just waiting for either Marci to come home or me to fall asleep. 

Tomorrow they are saying if the clouds stay then it'll be 97, but if they break up, it'll be another 104.  97 is still plenty hot.  That's a bummer because we wanted to go to a Sausage Festival at Raccoon Lodge - but no way we'll be sitting outside in that kind of heat.  Hopefully it'll cool down by Saturday next week for the brewfest.

powered by performancing firefox

Maddie's 1st Birthday

I FINALLY got around to posting the photos from her first birthday! There are some good ones of her with her cake all over her face. It was a great day, lots of fun, and she enjoyed the cake a lot. Enjoy the photos!

Jealous Brother and Sister

It's so funny how to watch Riley & Maddie get jealous of each other.  Riley has gotten jealous of her for awhile now.  He'll be ok when it's just him and me or him and Marci, or all three of us, but toss in Maddie and he suddenly wants to be with whatever parent is giving Maddie attention.  Doesn't matter what she's doing, he wants to be there.

Maddie now is getting jealous too.  I was holding her and she was fine.  Marci came downstairs and she was still fine.  Riley came downstairs and went to play with Marci, and that's when Maddie started howling, wanting down, went over and had to be part of what Riley & Mommy were doing.

We're trying to give each of them plenty of one-on-one attention from each of us, but it's funny to see them get so jealous.  It will DEFINITELY be interesting in another 5+ years.

powered by performancing firefox

Maddie news

A couple cute things happened this weekend.

First I was holding her, we were looking in the mirror and I stuck my tongue out the side of my mouth a couple times, making a silly face in the mirror.  She turned, looked at me, then stuck HER tongue out the side of her mouth!  That was soooo funny!  Of course the laugh she got made her do it even more.  LOL!

Second, she was awake and Riley was asleep on the couch.  He woke up in a kinda grumpy mood, wasn't happy, almost crying, then went back to sleep.  Maddie walked (yes, she's walking a lot now) over to him and patted him on the head.  All together now, Awwwwwwwwwww!  It was soooooo cute! 

As I said, she is really walking a lot!  She'll crawl still but is wanting to walk more and more.  And climb things!  We'll turn around and find her climbing the stairs, or onto a chair, or the couch, or up on boxes.  She's having tons of fun and so are we watching her!

powered by performancing firefox

4th of July

We had a great 4th!  Started with a parade in our neighborhood (it's been going on for years and we finally joined in).  Riley and Maddie had a great time riding in the very colorfully decorated wagon - I think Marci and Grammie Uchytil enjoyed decorating more than the kids.  Everyone commented on how nice it was.

Then off to a picnic with some friends.  It was a perfect day, not too hot, not too cold, not too windy.  The kids loved playing on everything and in the water and sand. 

Finally home to get ready for fireworks, which lasted aboutan hour and a half!  Riley loved it, though Maddie didn't.  She got scared really fast and we had to take her in.  She was very tired and fell asleep on the couch while we finished.  Poor girl, she did NOT like them at all!  Now we're all very tired.  Happy 4th to all!!

powered by performancing firefox

Riley & Maddie Photo Updates!

I know, I know, IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME! 

Today since it was supposed to be 100+, I decided not to practice my trumpet in my car and worked on some recent photos of Riley & Maddie instead.

Enjoy!

powered by performancing firefox

Awwwwww

Maddie is sleeping on my lap.  She suddenly coughed a bunch, then fell back asleep.  Riley jumped up, came over, looked at Maddie, and asked if she was ok.  I told him she is.  He then said that scared him and he gave her a kiss on the head.

Awwwwwww.....

Wow, Riley!

I'm looking at the American Idol website - big fan, we're both hooked.  Riley is in my lap and he says, "Daddy, look, there's Taylor."  I say, "You're right, that's Taylor."  Then he says, "And there's Katharine McPhee."

I was shocked!  Not that he knew she was Katharine, but that he knew her last name!  Wow!

powered by performancing firefox

How Loud Can You Play Your Trumpet?

Saturday I was practicing my trumpet while watching Maddie & Riley.  I was trying to play quietly so I didn't hurt their ears.  At one point, Riley asked, "Can you play louder than that?"  I said I could, then he wanted me to do it, so I did.  He then again asked, "Can you play louder than that?"  Of course I could and did.  One more time he asked, "Can you play louder than THAT?"  So this time I turned away from him (and Maddie), took a deep breath and played as loud as I could.

When I turned around Maddie's eyes were huge, Riley had his hands over his ears, a big grin on his face, and he said, "Daddy, that was TOO loud!" 

powered by performancing firefox

Maddie crawling while holding stuff

Today we notice Maddie would hold something she likes, then start crawling around while holding it. She has a doll she LOVES!! It is funny to watch her because she just LOVES that doll. Today we noticed she was holding the doll, then started crawling towards us WITH the doll in one hand. LOL!! it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!!

That's what friends are for

Saturday I was going downstairs. I asked Riley to close the master bathroom door so Tiffany didn't get into the garbage. When he got done with that I said, "Thank you Riles!" His reply was, "That's what friends are for."

LOL!!!

What a great weekend!

The weather was fantastic, so we got a bunch of yard work done.  I finally had a chance to mow the backyard lawn.  Took me about 4 1/2 hours.  To put that in perspective, it usually takes me about 30 minutes.  It would rain a bunch, then get nice for a few days, I'd be ready to mow it, then rain again.  Nothing like trying to mow tall wet grass.  And our power mower isn't powerful enough for that tall of grass, so I used the push mower.  Then I had to rake up all the clippings.  Tonight I'm going to go over it again with the power mower to make sure it's all even.  Marci planted some flowers and pulled a lot of weeds.  Sunday night we were both really tired and sore.

Also, on Saturday, we helped my parents clear a path for a fence to be put in.  That involved cutting/trimming plants, digging some up and moving them, pulling up roots, pulling out stumps, cutting the pieces into smaller pieces to put in the recycle bins, moving the bins, and some other stuff.  It was a long and busy weekend, but we enjoyed being outside a lot!

One more day of this, then more rain.  :( 

powered by performancing firefox

Easter 2006

Riley sure had a great time! He was almost as excited in the morning to get up and look for Easter Eggs as he was for Christmas. He found all the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid at home (it was raining and icky outside, so the Easter Bunny hid them inside the house), and got some cool new toys and things. I am starting to wonder if he's really my son though - he didn't want to dive into the candy, he said he wasn't hungry right now. I NEVER would have done that when I was his age. LOL!!

Then we went to Corvallis to be with my Mom's side of the family. That's always fun, Riley gets lots of eggs, it's great to see people we don't see that often, and we have some excellent food! The picture is Riley finding an egg out back. Click the picture for the fullsized version.

Maddie was a big hit! We forgot most people there had never seen her (well, in person that is). She looked soooooo cute in her nice dress. She was a little upset at us because she wanted to crawl around and we wouldn't let her - either too many people inside, or way too wet outside. The photo is Maddie getting a nice big bunny from Aunt Joan, click the photo for the fullsized version. And the rain held off just long enough for us to do the egg hunt. Whew!

Maddie crashed on the way home, Riley got tired and cranky, but we all had a great time. It's fun being a family on occasions like this!

April Fools!

I was curious to see how many people were reading this blog. Since it was April 1st, I decided to have some fun with that "Marci's Pregnant" post. Nope, no one called, no one commented, no one emailed. Guess no one is reading this. Oh well, that's ok. It's kinda like a diary that will be fun to look back on. :)

Marci's Pregnant!

Kid #3 is on the way! More details to follow....

All better

Well, we are finally back to feeling normal. Man, that flu was nasty, hope no one else gets it.

I did a fun thing that Maddie is going to hate when she gets older. She was sleeping in the car and snoring REALLY loud. So I took a short little movie of her. hehe Hey, isn't that what parents are supposed to do, embarass their kids when they get older?

Stomach Flu

WOW! Friday Riley caught the stomach flu, threw up several times, didn't want to do anything, and was pretty much out of action all day. Saturday Marci caught it. Sunday I caught it. Somehow Maddie avoided it. Whew!

Man, this thing was really bad! It just beat the crap out of us. We went from feeling fine to laying on the floor wanting someone to shoot us in a matter of a few hours. Marci was already sick when she caught this, so she's still feeling bad, the doctor told her it'll take 1-3 days of just simply rest to get better. I'm feeling better, just weak, no energy. I might go to work tomorrow, or stay home and help Marci with the kids so she can get better. But today we started the testing for a big project I'm leading at work and I kinda need to be there. We'll see how things go.

I don't usually get sick, but this was really bad and the most sick I've been in a long time. I hope no one else catches this, it's nasty.

Think about it...

When Riley gets in trouble, we give him a timeout, then ask him why he got in trouble. Often he'll say, "I don't know," and we'll say, "well, think about it," to try and get him to think about why he got in trouble rather than us just telling him why.

Today we were in the car and he said, "Do you know what I want to do today?" We say, "No, what would you like to do?" His reply was, "Think about it..." Made us laugh really hard!

It's in his mind

Riley backtalked to Marci. Marci asked if that was nice and he said no. She asked if he owed her an appology and he said yes. She waited, then asked, "Well, where is it?" He said, "It's in my mind." Marci and I both thought that was pretty amazing for a 3 1/2 yr old.

Monster Trucks

Riley and Rich had a great time at the Monster Truck show! You can see more details, photos and a video of the event by clicking the photo.

Accident 2/4/06

Oh man, what a wild Saturday. First off, everyone ok. Well, Marci's neck and back are sore and she's going to the doctor Monday to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong - hopefully he'll just say it's the muscles that are sore.

2:20pm, south-bound on hwy 217, just past the Walker Road on-ramp and before the Canyon Road exit, left lane next to the median. Traffic came to a stop, so we stopped. I looked in my mirror and couldn't believe what I saw - the Ford Aerostar was not going to be able to stop in time. Marci said I said, "She's not going to stop...", I don't remember what I said.

It was one heck of an impact!! Really gave us a huge jolt and pushed us into the car in front of us. Lots of breaking sounds and all that. Marci and I jumped out to check on the damage. The kids were crying a lot so Marci went back to check on them - fortunately they were fine. Of course we used this to again explain why we have Riley wear a seatbelt, and he now understands.

I was amazed! There really was very little damage to our car! I couldn't believe how well we came out of it, especially since their car was undriveable. The other guy we were pushed into was also shocked at how little damage there was. I thought for sure we'd have some serious damage and have to be towed. Here are some photos.

I called 911 and someone from ODOT showed up within 5 minutes - don't know where he came from. The 911 person said to jus deal with the ODOT guy. Since no one was hurt, they didn't send a police car out and after we exchanged insurance information we were free to go. That was weird.

We got back in and drove down to Salem, then back home that night. The car drove fine, no problems. Don't get me wrong, there is some serious damage and will cost a lot to fix it, but it's not preventing the car from working normal - the tailgate even closes.

Fortnately everyone was nice. The gal was in her 20's and really felt bad. Yelling at her wouldn't have done any good, and I'm glad the other guy was also really nice. I just told her these things happen and that's why we have insurance.

Of course this just goes with one of my major rants about driving these days and how people don't take enough care, like driving 65, in the rain, in the dark, and having some idiot tailgating you. Saturday the sun was out, but the roads were still wet. Maybe if the roads were dry she might have been able to stop, though I think she still would have hit us just not as hard. People just don't pay attention anymore, or keep a good distance between cars. Everyone's in a hurry, and doesn't want to let another car get in front of them. Maybe I'm just getting older and have less tollerance than I did, or maybe driving really has gotten worse.

Anyhow, the bottom line is it's nice to know how well our Honda Pilot will hold up in an accident, and that the kids are fine. We'll find out soon about Marci, keeping our fingers crossed it's just muscles being sore. I've filed a claim and will call our agent Monday to figure out all the details. I've never been hit before, so now there's something else I can add to my life experience. :)

Monster Trucks Coming

Just got tickets for Riley and Rich to the Monster Truck show in Feb. Riley is VERY excited! Our tickets include a Pit Party pass. This means we can go see the trucks and drivers before the show starts. I doubt Riley will want his picture taken with any of the drivers, but he'll love seeing the trucks up close. Riley loved it last year and kept asking when we could go see them again. Soon Riley, very soon!

Jealous Riley

Riley definitely gets jealous of Maddie. Last night we were at Old Chicago. Riley was awake and Maddie was asleep. Riley was fine, fairly calm easy going, we were all having fun. Then Maddie woke up and he started getting out of control. The main thing was he wanted to be with Mommy, either wanting her all to himself or WITH Maddie. It was interesting to watch.

Today, he took an almost 2 hour nap, and when he woke up Maddie was still asleep. He was very nice, no problems, no issues, just lots of fun. As soon as Maddie woke up he started getting wild, wanting Mommy to play with him, leave Maddie with Daddy, etc.

We never would have thought he'd get so jealous so early, but he does. Quite interesting, but now that we know he's getting jealous, we know how to react to him - we hope. ;)

Christmas 2005 Photos

I FINALLY posted the Christmas 2005 photos I took of Christmas Eve & Morning.