Taking matters into his own hands

Very few people knew that Russ was layed off from his job of 23 years in early December. We had come to treat the situation as a reversal of parenting roles: mom now works as much as she can while dad stays home with the kids. As much as Russ loves being home with the kids, he has decided that he really needs to get back in the game. He'd been looking for another sales job since January but with little luck. The one promising job ended up going to someone else, but Russ wasn't really disappointed. He's been mulling over the idea of opening his own garage door business. The idea has taken shape and has turned into a serious plan of attack. He recently found a work truck and is in search of a camper shell and rack. He is pretty sure he has a business name, so he's ready to apply for a new contractors license. So far everything seems to be falling into place....

Losing my voice

I don't know how many of you have had this cold that just won't go away, but it is truly horrible. I woke up this morning with almost no voice. I'm able to talk, but it doesn't sound good. All the coughing is just making it worse. One of my co-workers lost her voice completely, so I'm a little nervous. She sounded like me in the beginning. Fingers crossed tomorrow I still have a voice.

Russ Volunteers

Today was Russ's first day volunteering in kindergarten. The kids rotate from table to table working on different "subjects" with different teachers/parents. Russ got to do math and art today. He says the kids were definitely testing him, but he couldn't tell who was testing him and who was just being themselves. It sounds like he had a good time, though, and it sounds like Brandon was excited to have Daddy in class. Russ said Brandon kept talking to him about all kinds of things instead of focusing on his work. It also sounds like Mrs. Wong was surprised with how patient Russ was with the kids. She wants him to come back for more volunteer days. I think that would be great, because once he starts working again, he's not going to have the time.

Brandon playing Super Nintendo

Remind you of anyone?

Video: Brandon's first pitch hit

This is the first time Brandon was able to hit a ball pitched to him. The video is overexposed, but you can still see him hit the ball. He was pretty proud of himself.

Another reunion

Saturday was the All Hallows All Alumni Reunion. Russ and I met Sonja and her fiancé at the restaurant and hung out at the bar. We haven't seen Sonja in so long, that I think I spent most of the evening talking to her and Jeff. Russ and I did happen to sit across from a guy that was two years ahead of me in school. He was one of the few people I just did not remember from grade school. It was nice talking to him and his wife. She told us that they were high school sweethearts who met up again after 22 years and got married. It was a really sweet story. It was so weird seeing all the kids from the other grades we went to school with. I was so worried about leaving Russ with no one to talk to that I tried to stay by his side most of the night. I shouldn't have worried so much, since he and Jeff actually went to grade school together. They talked about their memories of teachers and classmates and field trips. It was a nice evening, but short. Russ and I had to get home so we could rest up for t-ball the following morning.

The last snow day

Brandon had another of his early days at kindergarten, so we took Brandon & Dylan up the mountain to do some sledding. They were really excited when we finally told them where we were going. They watched a movie and fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got there. When we woke them up, Brandon was whiny and crying. He just wanted to stay in the car and sleep. Dylan took about 15 minutes to wake up and get going. His first ride down the hill was with me, and my feet sprayed snow all over us. He announced that he was done sledding. That didn't go over too well, since Brandon was sitting on the ground continuing to complain about how he didn't feel good and wanted to sleep in the car. Brandon spent the afternoon pouting and complaining from the sidelines. We were able to talk Dylan into sledding with Russ, and eventually he went down the hill all buy himself. It was so cute watching him slide down on the same disk Russ used when he was a kid. He thought that was the absolute best! He had a great day sledding and climbing the big piles of snow. In the mean time, Brandon decided to pout in one of the sleds so he didn't have to sit on the cold ground. Just before we left we found him asleep in the sled. He got his way. He just slept outside in the snow instead of the car. On the way home, he woke up and said he felt better, watched another movie and happily munched on chips.


Then that same night, Brandon woke up getting sick in his bed. It was just horrible. It was like he had a stomach flu, because he just couldn't stop throwing up. Talk about feeling like the worst parents in the world! We didn't believe him when he said he didn't feel good out in the snow. We thought he was just making an excuse to go back to the car for a nap. Turns out he really was sick... We just couldn't put it together, because he seemed just fine in the car on the way there and on the way back. Not one single complaint. I still feel so horrible just thinking about that day.

T-ball Photos

Play ball!

Saturday was Opening Day for River Park Baseball. This is Brandon's first year playing t-ball, and he's having the best time. Saturday was the Opening Day Parade through the neighborhood. All the teams were loaded up in the backs of trucks and trailers throwing candy to the crowds. I don't think Brandon stopped smiling for even a second. The parade was followed by team introductions and the first pitch of the season. We found out there are over 100 kids signed up for t-ball alone this year. Seeing all 6 teams sitting in the outfield during the introductions really hit home how many kids that is. After all the Opening Day activities, it was time to rush home for a quick lunch and back out to the park for team pictures. This was all before noon. Thank goodness we didn't have a game too. We were so exhausted, everyone napped that afternoon.

Sunday morning was Brandon's first game. He did pretty good. He got some decent hits off and ran the bases like he was supposed to. His catching needs a little work, but he tried really hard and that is all that matters. He never got frustrated like he did with soccer. The whole game was just plain fun for him. The free snowcones after the game sweeten the deal even more.

Deets and O discovered the pleasures of t-ball day: hanging out, running around like crazies, playing in the dirt and the snack shack...oh ya, and watching Brandon play t-ball.