Two Down and Many to Go!!!

Two years ago our grocery bill increased, more toys began to litter the floor, and smells around the house changed.  These outcomes were created by the arrival of our little man Corwin.  That can only mean one thing now, that we are celebrating his second birthday!!!

Corwin celebrated in style, surrounded by family, friends, and enough sugar to feed a village.  The occasion was certainly festive, but the milestone itself also offered a chance to look back and reflect on the journey from then to now.  

We've enjoyed the first two years with Corwin, and he has definitely made the family more complete.  His progression on many fronts is also what you'd expect.  Corwin’s physical coordination and motor skills have always been great, and he loves kicking balls around the house.  His speech is also coming along.  He loves saying ‘fire truck, pumpkin, popsicle (of course), and other interesting words he comes across.  Given the multitude of sound waves dominated in the house by his mother and sister, I’m just glad he’s not mute.  That’s basically a nice way of saying that it’s tough for him to get a word in.  Corwin's sense of humor is also not lacking.  He enjoys shifting quickly between his 'serious face' and then his 'happy face,' back to his serious face quickly followed by his happy face...you get the idea.  He'll do that several time, then look at you, throw his head back, and laugh hysterically.  

For us as parents, he's brought quite a lot of joy, pride, and entertainment, which is a nice element to accompany the slobber, drool, and random assortment of body fluids and solids.  He's our little guy, and we love him :)

                                                                    

In other news, Sydney is loving school.  Kindergarten was built for her extrovert nature.  We recently attended her 'curriculum night' to learn about what they will be teaching the students this year.  To give you an idea of her academic abilities, reading level begins at "A".  Their spring goal for all kindergarten students is level "D."  Well, apparently our little Sydney Ru is already reading at least a level F, which is already first grade level.  She's become so efficient at reading, that many nights she takes over nighttime story responsibilities with Corwin.  She gets more practice, and he loves being read to by Sydney...a great time for both!

Everyone is getting ready for Halloween.  Sydney will be in a costume that we have not shown her yet.  It'll be a surprise for her, so I'll guess you'll have to wait to see the pictures, too.  For me...I will once again be playing the “Tired Dad” exhausted by life’s ongoing house projects and other to-do lists.  I had considered an alternative costume this year, but people have always commented on just how authentic and believable it is.

That's it for now.  I hope everyone else is doing great!!!
 

Syd has class...literally!

     Assessments, early dismissals, hot lunch…it can only mean one thing…our little Sydney Ruth has started kindergarten!!!  Were does the time go???  From diapers to lunch money in the blink of an eye.  I better not blink again or she’ll be driving or leaving for college.
     With the start of school, Sydney is officially a Silver Beach Silverhawk.  She would have been a Geneva student, but our move a few months back put her into the Silver Beach boundaries.  She has enjoyed her first few weeks of school.  She has learned to use the library, learned the ropes for getting meals, and has begun to understand classroom and recess rules.  Syd was also very excited the two occasions she’s been able to ride the school bus home.  To top it off, Nana also visited during the week school started, so she was able to participate in Syd’s new big transition.  She's loved it so far, so we hope she continues her enthusiasm through her academic career.
     At school, Sydney was fortunate to have a couple of kids from daycare also attend her school.  Although they are not in her classroom they’re right next door and get to play together at recess.  I’m sure it’s comforting to have a few ‘old’ friends at school, although she will have no shortage of opportunities to add new ones to her long list of friends.
     This Friday she will be participating in her first school fundraiser, a Jog-a-Thon.  The kids will earn money by running laps around the track.  We’ll see how it goes, but I’m sure she’ll do great.
     Corwin has also been doing great.  He's picking up new words every day (not counting the ones that sound like Klingon), and he really is a pretty funny little guy.  When asked, he'll provide an extremely serious look until he can't take it and bursts out laughing.  This week has been a little challenging though, as his two-year molars are coming in.  This has not only meant that he's been in a lot of pain, but it also means he's been salivating like a large canine.  I find myself walking through wet spots on the carpet, as well as peeling shirt off him that are fully soaked down the front.  There's been even more grotesque results, but I'll reserve those for another time.
     It's been a busy end to summer and beginning of fall.  As I mentioned, we did move to a new house.  We also went to Florida a week after we moved so I could attend a work conference (I do not recommend that combination to anyone).  And, with much sadness, we also lost my nephew Thomas.  He was much too young, and we will always carry the fun, the humor, and the great spirit he shared with us wherever we go.  

Sydney's new classroom.

     Needless to say, the past few months have been fairly frantic.  We are hoping things can slow down a bit and we can find some time to settle in to our new house, new routines, and try to find some fun to fit into our schedules.  I hope everyone else is doing well!

  

Fun at the Greek Fest!

Corwin in his favorite colors!

A great picture of all of the kids together!  We'll miss you Thomas!

 

Sydney reading a bedtime story to Corwin.

All Work & No Play???

We took a recent trip to Florida.  Believe it or not, it was actually for work.  I attended a national conference, which actually was well worth the trip.  Great speakers, great workshops, and definitely a level of quality you can't get locally.  ALTHOUGH that was the reason for the trip, we did manage to fit some fun in, too.  Well, I should say that was more the case for me.  As I put my brain and knowledge to work at the conference each day, Karen, Sydney, Corwin, and Grandma put their Disney knowledge and experience into action in the parks.  I was able to join them in the evenings, and then for full days at the parks after the conference ended.

It was hot and muggy, but no weather conditions were about to slow us down.  Okay, actually there were a couple of downpours that just drenched us...and on one occasion lightning struck the monorail line that we were on (fortunately it happened before we left the platform and we were just able to disembark without too much time delay).  Other than those two minor setbacks, we took the fast track to fun and dealt with sweating profusely in an admirable manner.

We used our Fast Passes to get to our favorite rides, and we even got a chance to hit the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Cart roller coaster.  We made sure we consumed a churro and some other tasty treats.  We also got to sport our fancy new magic bands, which contained all of our personal information, credit cards links, and perhaps everything known about us on the web.  Corwin was also much older this trip, so it was much more enjoyable for him and he got to experience some very fun things.  

One highlight of the trip certainly included dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table.  It was definitely a feast, plus we also received a buffet of princesses that visited the table during our meal.

I could go on and on, but we recently moved and my honey-do list is very long.  So, instead of blab on and on, I wanted to at least make a post and share some pictures of our fun adventure!!!

 

Outlandish!

There will be days when I am less than my perfect, stellar self.  I may, on occasion, make mistakes like mere mortals do.  Everyone is prone to making errors, even despite best intentions.  When those moments occur, I will forever just have to mention one little word..."Outlander."  I recently took a trip down to Seattle with Karen so that she could participate in the Outlander book series 'fan retreat.'  I didn't want her to go alone, and I want to be supportive of whatever interests she has.  So, this led me to be one of 500 people attending a very popular event that occurred days before the release of the next book.  Karen said the tickets sold out in four minutes, and it was crazy to see people who flew in from all over the country...and, in fact, all over the world.  Some people traveled from England to participate in this event.

Karen meets the author!

Karen enjoys the event...
but can't wait to read the new book
she now possesses!

I knew going into the event, that this book series were very popular with the fairer sex (that's women obviously, in case you were wondering!!!).  I knew this ahead of time, but my comfort level wasn't questioned because of my intense manliness.  When we arrived at the event, it was clear my expectations were far exceeded...as I counted the number of male humans on one hand.  As I counted, though, I realized how many points I was truly gaining that day, thus my earlier comment about when I make the occasional minor error.  So to you, Outlander...I have not read you yet, but I will be forever grateful for the longevity you have given me outside of the dog house :)  Okay, in all fairness...it wasn't too terrible.  They discussed the upcoming show that is coming to Starz, and there was some decent Scottish food at the end.  But as far as the comment about the disparities between men and women, that was definitely 100% correct.

In sadder news, we recently lost our furry family member Stirling.  She lived a long life, and she made it to the ripe old age of 19 years and 1 day old.  She's been a part of my life for quite a while (half of it really), but I remember how much Sydney loved spending time with her when she was little.  More recently, she was a gentle soul and put up with Corwin...who would squeal with delight and excitement every time he saw her.  His initial petting was a little rough, but Stirling learned to live with it as we educated him on what the proper social petting etiquette was.  She got along with all animals, and never had anything but a purr in her mind.  We also will miss Pam, who we recently celebrated at her celebration of life.  It seems we've lost too many this year, but they will all be remembered.

June has been very busy, but July has promise to be even busier.  We have put an offer in on a house.  If the inspection and the appraisal shake out okay, we anticipate closing in the middle of the month.  Shortly after, we will be making a trip to Florida for my work conference, which will consume a week away from home as we transition to a new house.  Wish us well with our sanity!!!

Father's Day is upon us.  What does that mean???  Of course, it means that we should celebrate all of the dads in our lives that provided support, and a good foundation for life.  Happy Father's day to my dad (Tom), and my other father (Don).  And of course, we can't forget the other Fathers that made my life possible...my Grandpa Harry who is not with us for the first time on Father's Day, and my Great Grandpa Homer.  Quite literally, if it had not been for them giving birth to my Grandma and my Mom, my life would not have been possible.  We appreciate you all, and hope that you have a great Father's Day...in this world or in spirit!!!  For me, being a father has been a rewarding experience.  It never could have happened with two great children, Sydney and Corwin.  But first and foremost, it never would have happened without Karen...let's be realistic...her giving birth to them is a big part of me being a father.  So, thank you to all my awesome family peeps!!!

Until next time, have a great weekend!!! 

Sounders!!!

We made a trip down to Seattle yesterday to watch the Seattle Sounders demolish Real Salt Lake.  Although Real was currently in second place and had not lost this season, the Sounders gave them a 4-0 thrashing that could have been much worse.  More importantly, this marked Corwin's very first Sounders game.  He had been practicing his "GOAL" chant for months.  He misfired a few times during the game, but in those situations I just whispered to him that he needed to wait until the right time, and that I'd give him a cue.  Other than the game itself, he was entertained by the fireworks, flags, clapping, chanting, and the random intoxicated person yelling or swearing at the ref.  All in all, a lot for him to look at and take in.  I'm sure this represents the first of many Sounders games that he will be attending, and it was certainly great to start the trend with a victory.

Of course, being the ripe age of 5, Sydney has been to several games.  She knows the Sounders chants, the goal celebration, and other important etiquette.  Unfortunately, we had seats in the 100 section where people stand the entire game.  That meant that Karen and I had to pick her up when she wanted to see...so the game was often a rotation of holding Corwin and holding Sydney.  The biceps were definitely burning by the end, but I guess my big guns were prepared to handle the situation.

In other news, Corwin wrapped up his first film shoot a couple of weeks ago.  He's got his first screen credit (or at least he will when post-production is completed).  He did an amazing job of acting...he nailed playing the part of an 18-month old that knew how to walk.  He did have some downtime between shooting scenes, so he was able to find a cat to play with (the producer's cat didn't seem to mind).  And while Corwin got his cat fix in, Sydney was able to play with some chickens that the producer was looking after.  It was a 13 hour work day for me, but Sydney and Corwin had fun on set when they were there.  We'll share the final product after it's completed.

June will continue where May left off, and we'll be just as busy as ever.  More to come, but until then enjoy your June!!! 

It's May!!!

It's been a busy May so far.  We've had our house on the market for a couple of months, so it's meant keeping the house in perfect condition for open houses and random showings.  Although that consumes some of our daily lives, we have managed to fit in some fun activities this past month.

Karen and Sydney went to Seattle last weekend to participate in the Color Run.  Basically it's a fun run that involved a lot of color, in both liquid and powder forms.  Sydney was able to accomplish most of the run without assistance, which we are very proud of.  I remember running with her in the Fairhaven 5k when she rode (actually slept the whole way) in the stroller.  Just shows how quickly they grow up.

Mother's Day was a fun day.  We were able to spend a nice afternoon in Aunt Diane's back yard, eating some BBQ and having a great time.  Spending it with family was fun, and having three generations of Moms together made it extra special.  Corwin and Sydney loved playing with Diane's dogs, jumping on the trampoline, and running around like maniacs.

This Saturday we will be filming a video PSA that we are creating through my work.  Corwin will make his professional acting debut.  Hopefully the post-production will not take too much time so that I can share it everyone.  It'll be a long day for me, but Corwin's part will be relatively brief, so I'm hoping he'll be in high spirits when it's literally 'showtime' for him :)

We are also in the middle of planning for our upcoming trip to Florida.  It's a work trip for me, but I'll have a few stow-a-ways that will be in permanent vaca-mode.  It'll be extremely hot in July, but we'll manage to make it an awesome trip!  Those are just a few brief snippets from the past month, but a few fun events I wanted to include.  We hope you all have a great weekend!

 

Too Many Updates!!!

It's been an extremely busy 2014 so far, and we're not even half-way through it.  We decided to put our house on the market in an effort to move before Sydney begins school next Fall.  This has meant months and months of home projects.  Now that we're finally listed, it also means keeping the house 'show-ready' each and every day.  That is not the easiest thing with two little ones, one of which likes to drool his way through the house, and tends to have a generally sticky nature about him.  We're hoping this big transition can happen soon, so that we can get to back to just life in general with a typical routine.

It's also been a busy past month.  Karen and Corwin made the long journey to Montana, to help our Nana out around the house.  Corwin and Karen had fun catching up with Nana and other friends in Montana, and Sydney and I got some quality Daddy-Daughter time.  We hope Nana is doing well and having a speedy recovery.

As for Corwin's developments, he's still limited in the number of English words he can speak (he does speak a dialect of Klingon quite fluently though).  And although his spoken words contain some favorites, such as 'car, hi, bye-bye, momma,' and a few others, he's actually quite good at his signed words, as well as his animals sounds.  He does a fairly good owl impersonation, as well as lion, kitty, and a few other animals.  Actually, one of my proudest moments was when he started saying "GOOOOAAAL."  He does that when putting both arms up.  He's seen enough soccer to know the context.  He's such an educated futbol viewer, and he's actually a pretty accomplished dribbler of the ball, too.

Sydney has been just as busy as ever.  She's currently finishing up another round of swimming.  She is also going to move from her standard class at the Barkley Y this summer to an enhanced summer camp.  This will let them do more physical activities (rock climbing, gym activities, swimming, etc), as well as fun outings on field trips around the county.  In a recent visit to the downtown YMCA, one of Sydney's teachers noticed Sydney was on a fundraising banner posted in the main lobby of the building.  I guess she is really a poster girl now...ha ha!  We actually hadn't known they made the banner, but that's quite alright.

GOOOOOAAAL!

Although Sydney is helping the Y in some of their promotions, Corwin has also been cast in a role in a video PSA that we are making through work.  He will be playing the 'walking 18 month old.'  We've been trying to get him in character for the past couple of weeks, and he really seems to be a natural for the part.  Shooting will occur in early May, so we hope he can keep channeling his artistic flair until then, and through production.  We'll share the product with everyone once the project is complete.
 
 This Spring and Summer doesn't look like things will slow down much either.  We are looking forward to a Sounders game at the end of May (Corwin's first), and also a work trip in July that will take us to Florida.  And yes, it really is a work related event (at least for me).  The rest can relax and have fun while I attend workshops and sit in crowded rooms.

Well, that's a quick summary for now.  We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their April.

Have a HAPPY EASTER!!!

Sydney's swim lessons...

Syd ready for her next trip to
Walt Disney World!