Stand And Be Counted

Yep, my little 4 year old is now officially a 5 year old. We had a family birthday party last Saturday (complete with some fantastic lasagna that Susan made), and today she had her kid’s birthday party at Pump It Up, which has a bunch of huge inflatable toys to play on. After wearing all of the kids out, we went upstairs for cake and presents, and called it a day. It was a cool place to have a party.

Tonight Rachel has requested homemade tacos for dinner, and this weekend (after I get back from a work trip I am going on) we’re going to take her out to dinner to celebrate - she wants her own crab for dinner.

So, I’ve been trying to find time to tell you about a fantastic weekend I had with my daughter a couple weekends ago. Rachel and I went for an overnight trip to Camp Gilead with her preschool. I was not sure how it would turn out - an overnight trip with a whole bunch of 3, 4 and 5 year olds. It was great! We left Friday afternoon, and took the short drive to the camp, just north of Carnation. The camp was incredible. We stayed in a cabin - Rachel and I ended up having our own. After arriving and getting unpacked, it was play time for a few hours, and we hung around the playground equipment and a ball field where Rachel enjoyed playing soccer. Next, the dinner bell rang, and everyone got in line to go through the dinner line, cafeteria style. Dinner was meatballs, rice and salad. The kids were all so excited - the meal hall was definitely abuzz. After dinner, everyone headed to a different building to see a puppet show put on by one of the ladies that runs the camp - very well done. After that, we had a campfire, complete with s’mores and camp songs. Very fun.

Since we had our cabin to ourselves, Rachel insisted that we each sleep in top bunks. Hers had a rail along the side so I knew she was safe, but mine didn’t, and I was a bit worried I was going to roll off of the thing. Luckily I didn’t, though. We both woke up about the same time in the morning, and I stuck my hands up to hold the ceiling up, then after a few minutes told Rachel I needed a break and asked her to hold it up for awhile, which she did.

Breakfast that morning was pancakes and sausage, and then after breakfast we had the whole morning to explore the camp property. We did a little of everything - played on the swings, went for a hayride (pulled behind a tractor), canoed on a small pond, played mini golf, and Rachel rode a train they had set up there that was just her size. It was 4 cars long, and 2 or 3 kids could fit in each car. It went around in a great big circle through the trees, about 3 minutes per round trip, and she went about 6 times. One part of it went through a tunnel, and the conductor (who sat backwards on top of the engine) loved pretending like he wasn’t paying attention, and would pretend like he hit the back of his head on the top of the tunnel each time they entered it. The kids cracked up every time. Susan arrived about 10:30, and we played some more at the play equipment and then all had lunch (chicken nuggets, fries, oranges and a cookie). After lunch we all played soccer and I played frisbee with one of the other dads, and finally it was time to head home. Rachel was exhausted! What a fun time. Her pre-school does this every spring, so I am already looking forward to next year.

The garage project continues. After getting the shelves up and everything in place, Susan’s dad convinced us that we should really finish the gargage (most of it was bare studs with no insulation. So, a couple weeks ago I took everything back off of our new shelves, moved them over to a side of the garage where they would be out of the way, and put everything back on them. Susan’s dad and brother spent a full day with me adding a bunch of electrical outlets (both inside the garage and on the outside walls - those will be really handy to have), as well as more lighting in the garage and on the outside of it to light the driveway. It was fantastic having all of the help. This past weekend I put insulation up throughout, and then Susan’s dad again came over and we started sheetrocking. This weekend I hope to finish the sheetrocking, and then all that is left is to paint the whole thing. It will be great once it is all done.

It was a busy weekend for the Stenner clan last weekend. When we moved into our house 7 years ago, there were some homemade wood built-in cabinets in the garage that were very non-space-efficient. We had been saying ever since that we wanted to tear those out, and put in some real shelving, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Last weekend we did. We took everything off of the existing shelving, tore down the old shelves, bought new shelving, and put about half of the stuff back - throwing away the other half. The demolition phase was the most fun, I think, and I took 2 loads of stuff to the dump - always fun!

Also, Rachel has a bicycle that we bought at a garage sale 2 summers ago (when she was 2). That first year I just pushed her around on it - she just loved bikes so much that we had to get one for her. Last summer she rode it every once in a while, but her 3-year old legs were just not strong enough for her to peddle it by herself, so it was still my job to do the pushing. On Saturday, as I was working in the garage, she asked if she could ride her bike. I told her I didn’t have time to push her right then, since I was working on stuff, and she asked if she could just ride it around in circles in the garage (we are on a busy and hilly enough street that she can’t just go ride it out in front of our house). I helped her get her helmet on, and she sat down on her bike, and I think fully expected that she was just going to have to sit on it since I couldn’t push her. She tried peddling it, and it moved! She was so excited! Within minutes she was doing laps in the garage, and went around and around and around and around all weekend. Too fun. I think it really gave her a sense of self-accomplishment. Very cool. Well, very cool until at one point, Susan and I were talking (we had the garage door open, and our driveway slopes down to the street), and all of a sudden Susan stopped and said “WHERE’S RACHEL?!?” We ran outside and there she was, laying with her bike on top of her next to a tree next to the street. She had wanted to go see something outside, rode her bike out, and I imagine built up quite a bit of speed until running into the tree. I’m actually glad the tree was there to stop her - she would have went zinging out into the street without it. She wasn’t hurt - scared more than anything, and I am happy to report that after getting up, brushing herself off, and stating “Stupid tree", she got right back up on her bike and did more laps in the garage. I was glad to see that.

I gave her the nickname Crash after that - I think she likes it.

Susan and I have a hard time getting out of bed - it’s been a struggle for us for quite some time. The past few weeks we have been doing a lot better, because I have added a third alarm clock to the mix - we got one for Rachel because she wanted a clock in her room, but the ticking annoyed her, so we instead moved it into our room and sat it on the dresser across the room. Since we did that, I’ve been setting it for a few minutes after our other two alarm clocks are set. I find that I actually get up when our main alarm clocks go off now, since I don’t want the third one to go off and wake up Rachel. Works pretty well.

Anyway, that somewhat lame story is a lead in to a new gadget that may be just what we need - Clocky! I can’t think of a better tool for getting Susan and I up in the mornings. Hmmm….or maybe the Jigsaw Puzzle Alarm Clock would do the trick.

OK, well, maybe it’s a bit beyond St Patrick’s Day now, but it sounds better than the Merry Christmas greeting that has been staring at me on this page for so long. Geez, I’ve been neglecting this thing.

The truth is, I’ve been on a 3 month mountain sheep hunting expedition in Tajikistan. I don’t want to bore you with the details of this, though.

Other than that, things have been going well for me. Rachel turned 4 in January, and we had a kid party scheduled for the weekend before her birthday, and a family party scheduled for the weekend after. My sister flew up from the Bay Area the weekend before her birthday as well. Bummer, though, Rachel got sick a few days before that weekend - we kept telling ourselves that she would be better by the day of her kid birthday party (her first one!), but it just didn’t happen - the day of her scheduled party we had to call everyone and tell them that we needed to postpone it. Rachel was so disappointed. I felt really bad for her. My sister still came up, and we had a pretty quiet weekend visiting with her (and she was very sick the next week, too - Sorry Heidi!). Rachel got better the next week, and we ended up having the family party the Saturday after her birthday, and then the kid party that Sunday. Rachel had a great time at her kid party - they played pin the horn on the unicorn, and decorated their own cupckaes - that was a lot of fun!

We were at my parent’s house for Easter and were suprised that my sister and her boyfriend were able to join us there as well. It was a regular family reunion, with my parents, my sister and Michael, and us staying at my parents house, and my Grandparents and my uncle and cousin staying at my Grandparents’ house.

All for now - Rachel is calling me.

We’ve had a good Christmas break. Susan, Rachel and I drove over to my parent’s house in Richland (eastern Washington) on Thursday. My Grandparents came over on Friday afternoon, and we all had dinner and went to an early Christmas Eve candlelight service, and then exchanged gifts with my Grandparents. Christmas morning was a very leisurly time of opening gifts with my parents, and then my Grandparents again came over for Christmas dinner. Yesterday we watched the Seahawks limp into the playoffs, and spent the day playing with our new Christmas toys - mainly Rachel’s. Today, my parents are at the airport picking up my sister, Heidi, and we will spend the day with her today before leaving for home tomorrow.

My Mom has been getting puzzles out for us all to work on - a holiday tradition for her, and we’ve been clipping them off at a rate of one a day. It is fun - a constantly revolving group of two or three of us at a time working on the puzzle of the day.

Christmas Eve, Rachel was very excited for Santa Claus to come. We left cookies and milk out for him, and just before it was time for Rachel to go to bed, she was taking a new Barbie doll she got from my Grandparents into her bedroom so she would be in bed with her when she did go to bed. My Mom had the clothes dryer going, and as we were in Rachel’s bedroom, it buzzed. Rachel leaped into bed, quickly pulled the covers over her, and asked “Is he here?” She was worried that she had stayed up too late, and wasn’t asleep when he got here. Luckily, it was just the dryer, and she did manage to fall asleep before he came - we all did, actually. She came in to wake us up Christmas morning, and I asked her if she had heard a clatter in the middle of the night, but none of us had. He must have been quiet - he did come, eating his cookies and drinking his milk, and leaving Rachel an American Girl baby doll, a stuffed horse that she had found when we had been out Christmas shopping, and a stocking full of goodies. I really like Santa - he is a cool guy. I think I like him more now as a parent then I did when I was a kid. Tough to explain.

Happy and safe holidays everyone!

My Dad was in town yesterday for business, and he came over and we went out to dinner last night. I hadn’t told Rachel that he was going to be here, because he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to come see us or not, since he might have had an evening activity required for his work. Turns out he didn’t. Rachel was very excited with a suprise visit from Grandpa, and as we were waving good bye to him as he was leaving our house, Rachel closed the door, put her back against it, and said “Wow - that was stupendous!”

I had the day off work yesterday, so was able to go back to Rachel’s preschool and see what it was like now that all of the kids are in the swing of it (the last time I went was the first day, so it was new for everyone). I could definitely tell that all of the kids were used to coming, now, and it was a lot of fun. Each of them knew what to do at each transition time. For example, after play time is over, the teacher starts singing a song about cleaning up, and you should see the whirlwind of activity to clean and get ready for song time. The same thing happened at each transition time after that, too - all of the kids knew where to go (with a little coaching) and what to expect next. It was really cool.

I sat with Rachel during snack time, and there is one other girl and one boy that sit at her same table for snack (they break up into small groups for snack time - same group each time). The boy’s name is Kinoa, and he really likes to act up. Each time he did, Rachel would chuckle and say out loud but to herself “Jacob is funny.” I heard her make what I thought was a name mistake a couple times, and then I quietly corrected her - “That’s Kinoa.” She would agree with me, and then Kinoa would do something else like eat like cookie monster, etc., and Rachel would say “Hee, hee, hee - Jacob is funny.” This went on all of snack time.

Before I continue the story, you should know that Jacob is another boy in her class, and she really likes him. A couple of weeks ago they even put on dress-up wedding clothes and got married. I’m not sure what Jacob does for a living, but I’m pretty sure he can’t support my little girl yet. But I digress.

After school, Susan had to go into work for a while, so Rachel and I got to spend the afternoon together. We were in washing hands at one point, and I asked her why she kept calling Kinoa Jacob. She laughed and said “Jacob is funny.” I said, yeah, but that was Kinoa. She agreed with me. It was then that I started to catch on. I asked her if Kinoa reminds her of Jacob, and she said yes. I asked her what things Kinoa does that reminds her of Jacob, and she said everything - he eats like cookie monster like Jacob, they both play with blocks and trucks, they both are funny, etc. I realized that everything she was listing was things that boys do (sorry, I am generalizing here - bear with me). I started thinking about the social dynamic of what my 3 year old daughter was trying to tell me - she spends most of her time at preschool with the girls - they play together for the most part during play time, they sit together for the most part during song and story time, they play together outside during outdoor time, etc. But at snack time, they socialize with the opposite sex, and seeing Kinoa do boy stuff reminds her of Jacob, who she likes. Interesting I thought.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I got some pictures, and maybe this weekend I will spend some time figuring out how to start getting pictures on here. I’m not sure if I want to take the album approach - every once in a while I will look at people’s online picture albums, but I prefer a story to go along with the pictures. Matt posted a link and description on how he does this a while back, so I’ll look into that. I never seem to get time to spend on my web page at home, but that is where the pictures are.

Oh, we also all spent a week of vacation in Orlando a few weeks back - I will try to get a better trip report up here, but generally we sat around at the pool almost every day, spending one day at Disneyworld. Sitting around at the pool for almost a full week is exactly what we were looking for in this trip - we went to Hawaii in February and didn’t spend near enough time relaxing, so that was job 1 for this vacation.

Rachel started preschool last Thursday. She is going to the Redmond Coop Preschool. She goes Thursday and Friday mornings, and Susan goes with her on Thursdays as a parent-teacher (each child has a parent there as a parent-teacher one of the two days each week, so there is a 2-1 child to parent ratio, which is cool. Next year in the 4-year old class she will be there on Monday - Wednesday, with Susan again being there one day each week, so there will be a 3-1 ratio). There are several different play areas there, and each parent has responsibility on a rotating basis for one of the play areas. Susan’s responsibility last Thursday was the Block Room.

I went on Thursday, too, just to take her first day of school in. She has been looking forward to it all summer…we told her she got to start school in the fall, and she has been asking all summer if it was fall yet.

I think that she really enjoyed herself. The first hour there is a “free-for-all, play with whatever strikes you” time. Rachel played with the sand table for a while, and then went over to make her “carpool bag” - a canvas bag decorated by her that she takes back and forth every day. It has her bike helmet in it for the outside play time, and if they have anything for the parents to see (memos, etc.), they stick it in the bags so it makes it home. After decorating her carpool bag, she then spotted the easels. She had been hoping that when she went to school she would be able to paint on an easel, and sure enough, the first day there she was able to. She painted a picture, then moved on to playing with dolls, the guinnea pig, and many other toys. During that time each child goes and makes their snack as well - the Kitchen parent brings a snack for all of the kids, and each kid takes time during play time to go in and assemble what they want to eat onto a plate, and then put their plate on a tray. They eat the snack they made later.

After play time, it was then time for music. We all sat in a circle and sang several songs, most of which I didn’t know, but I did have fun singing and doing the arm movements for them. Normally they would then have Circle/Story time (they didn’t the first week because it was a reduced schedule the first week for the kids to get used to being there), which sounds really cool to me. Half the kids go with the Story parent and hear a book, while the other half go with the main teacher for Circle time, where they all sit in a circle and listen as one by one the teacher has a small conversation with each one, teaching listening skills as well as speaking in front of a group. Very cool. Next they would then have Show and Tell (again they didn’t do this the first week), and then Snack Time. Rachel sits at the blue table with 3 other kids for snack time - she will sit at the same table with the same kids for half the year, and then they will switch things up. After snack time it was time for outdoor play - they have several scooter type things for them to play on, as well as some 4-wheeled tricycle type things, and also a climbing toy and teeter totters, etc. I left then to come to work, but after that they had the goodbye song and came home.

Rachel doesn’t seem to want to talk about it a whole bunch - I asked her that night some questions about what her favorite part was (the snack) and other things, and she would answer but didn’t really volunteer information. I asked her the same things Friday night and again she wasn’t too talkative about it, but since then she keeps asking if it is fall and can she go back to school today.

The thing that I think she is really going to like is getting to play with the same kids every time. Since she stays with Susan’s mom Monday through Wednesday while Susan is at work, she doesn’t get a whole lot of time with other kids, and when she does (when we go to the park or McDonalds, etc.), she loves playing with other kids, but then they are gone and we generally don’t see them ever again. Having friends that she gets to know and play with all of the time will be really good for her - she definitely is a little socialite.

Hey, what do you know! Brandon’s alive and kicking.

We had a web server issue, and lost our site for a while, but we’re back bigger and better than before. A big thank you to the stealth hero who got my WordPress set back up for me….eventually I’m going to have to learn how to do this stuff myself. I’ve gotten my original two lonely posts back up, but the comments that were originally added to them are no longer there. My first post was greeted by many welcomes from the Pintglass crew, and a few other well-wishers as well…thank you all for that. It’s good to be back.

So, I got me a new toy last weekend - a 20 gig Apple - iPod. I go to the gym at lunchtime every day, and needed a way to listen to my own music rather than being subjected to the Top 40 (is that still a term that is used?) repeated seemingly every 3 minutes that they play there. I had been going back and forth for quite some time between the iPod and iRiver’s H120 - the iRiver had very good reviews from everything I was reading, has a longer battery life, integrates much better with PCs than Apple’s does (duh), and handles .wma format while the iPod doesn’t, all things that were important to me. Still, I went with the iPod. Why? The main reason was that you can get an attachment for the iPod called an iTrip, manufactured by Griffin, that transmits the music to the FM station of your choice. There are of course others that you can get that work with iRiver’s too, but from what I read the iTrip was far and away the best at transmitting static-free. Other than using the iPod at the gym, I also really wanted it for in the car and while we work in our yard – we usually take a portable radio outside when we’re out there.

I have to say that I have absolutely no complaints with the iTrip - and it is absolutely fantastic to be able to listen to my music sans-headphones anywhere there is a radio. Susan is even liking having it around, and she’s not one to get excited about gadgets usually. I also have about 15 hours (out of the total of about 120 hours or so I currently have on it) of Rachel’s music (she’s my 3-year old). There are a few minor things I don’t like about the iPod, but really no major complaints. All in all I am very pleased with having it. Now I just need to buy more CDs - I don’t even have the thing half full yet

Hello? Is this thing on? Testing 1-2-3. Ralph, turn the volume down a little bit…..Testing 1-2-3. That’s better.

Hello.

Well, here I am. JVE linked to me, so I figured it would be prudent to put something up here entertaining for all. The page needs some work….and as you know that work never gets done, it just evolves, but look for this space to brighten up a bit in the future. I’m not sure what will be discussed on this blog, but I guess we will all learn that together. My guess is that it will be long spaces of dull glimpses into my life, with the occasional lively conversation, but let’s wait and see, shall we? For now, welcome.