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!!

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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!

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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!

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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!" 

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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.  :( 

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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.