It's been some time since I've posted. Grad school is over for this quarter and I have a break until the next residency in Seattle, in January. It's been really nice to have the time back in the evenings for personal stuff like reading and watching movies. I'm also looking forward to school starting again too.

M&N are enjoying their Aikido classes. H has been going with them and is having fun too. S and I have been hanging out more on Aikido nights which has been fun for me. She's a sweet girl.

This is the last week of school, then I'm off for two months! I'm looking forward to having more time to read and watch movies and try to get some personal projects done, but I realized today that I'm going to miss my daily interaction with the rest of the cohort too.

The kids finished off their Halloween candy today - we bought most of it off them, as we do each year, but they were still left with a pretty good haul, especially compared to the amount of that kind of stuff they usually get, which is close to nil. Seems to affect M pretty hard too, changing his behavior more than N or S.

I should add we had the cats neutered last week. They were a little loggy for a couple of days, but seem to be just as feisty and energetic now. They are taking up a bigger chunk of our budget then expected, what with food and litter and vet bills....

Whew! It's been busy.... Last two weeks of the quarter starting, finished the group project for the 550 class, now have to finish the web site for 541 due by 11pm next Sunday. Still have lots of reading to do in 550 for the last weeks too. And a journal entry. Trying not to stress about what kind of grades I might be getting.

M went to his first Aikido class on Thursday - he really liked it and is excited to keep going, and N, though not as interested at first, now wants to go to, so starting Tuesday he'll join M in class. They have Aikido twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. S is interested too, but she'll neet to wait a few years until she's old enough. M&N will probably teach her in the meantime.

Halloween coming up! The kids are excited. We (H) need to get their costumes done. I'm hoping I'll be able to lend a hand with that somehow. Daylight savings time ended today - it's always strange and a bit difficult with the kids when the time changes. Mealtimes and bedtimes can get a little screwy.

We had a great day today, due mostly to H's reorganizing our daily schedule. So today we had our family meeting after breakfast, then had a family fun activity (went to Cornwall Park and found the GeoCache there), then did our chores (which today meant shopping for two week's worth of groceries). After dinner we played a family game - Hullaballoo and Duck, Duck, Goose.

It's been awhile since I've written here. Had a pretty good trip to the Oregon coast - actually the best 7+ hour drive back with the kids ever.

Apple Fest this Saturday. Should be fun. Expecting a lot of people.

M,N&S continue to draw a lot. When I came home from work they were on the living room floor drawing up a storm, watching an instructional video on different drawing techniques.

Going down to Oregon tomorrow to rejoin H and the kids, then we're all heading to the coast to do some yurting at Honeyman State Park near the big sand dunes with H's family. Got 80% of my school work done today so that I could enjoy the weekend - want to finish the other 20% tomorrow before I leave....

Lots of reading for class this week. H and the kids have been gone since last Friday - saw a few movies and played chess with friends. Nice weather in Bellingham for late Sep/early Oct.

Very tired tonight. Feel like going to bed at 8:30. Miss my family.

The boy's Aikido class didn't happen last week - they didn't have enough uniforms (Gi in Japanese)....

So, we'll try again when we get back from Oregon.

I went to see the play H is in last Thursday (A Buttload of Walbeck), and thought it was great! H is in three of the plays (there are a bunch of short pieces, one after the other), and I thought they were all very well done. Good acting and writing, especially for B'ham! Much better than I expected - I had pretty low expectations...

Went fishing on Saturday up in Canada and caught four humpies on my fly rod. Had a great day. It was hot enough to wade out into the Chilliwack in shorts. That was the first time I've actually caught fish on the fly rod. Gave three of the salmon away to friends and neighbors.

Today N complemented S on a drawing she made!

H is busy painting our room. Apple fest is coming up, as well as a tour of KCLT houses, starting with ours, so I know she'd like to get all the painting done before that.

School work hanging over my head, though I'm still keeping up. Listening to Los Super Seven's "Canto".

M&N start Aikido class tomorrow. I'm going to observe, though I don't think I'll be able to participate since I can't get there early enough. As it is I'll be riding there right after work.

We're starting in on Ethics & Professionalism this week, after doing two weeks of copyright law. It feels weird to change gears after being immersed in Title 17 so intensely.

H has almost finished a painting that she's going to give to Heather. That darn left corner is still bugging her though....

S fell asleep tonight while laying beside me after we finished singing songs. She must have been pretty tired - it took her about two minutes to conk out.

Twilight's tail got caught in the dishwasher door this evening when I closed it. The poor cat yowled louder than I've ever heard him do yet. I got his tail out pretty quickly, but he kept it close to his legs for quite awhile, and it had a definite kink in it too. But I think it's all straightened out now....

M&N&S&H had a fun day of doing and making lots of projects. The kids enjoy projects, making anything it seems like, to no end.

H had another great night at her play. She only has two more performances to go, and then we'll see. I hope she gets to be in another play relatively soon. Even though it sometimes causes extra stress and work for me it makes her so happy that it's worth it (and the stress factors aren't as great as they used to be....)

Got 8 web pages up tonight, all "under construction", but it feels good to have them ready to go. School work continues to be challenging, both intellectually and organizationally. Besides getting the web pages done there's a major project that has to be coordinated on-line with four other people, and all the readings, lectures, journals, excercises and discussions have to be kept up with.

N stayed the night last night at the Dillon's. He had fun, but M missed him terribly. S was going to sleep in the same room with M, but then M wanted to sleep with H, so S moved back to her bed, M slept with H, and I ended up sleeping in M's bed. Whew!

The Bellingham Traverse is this weekend. I'm volunteering again. Not sure what I'll be doing. Maybe next year I'll be able to compete.

And so, to bed.

Today everyone got invited to go to the waterslide park, for free! This is a big deal because we just went to the waterslide park two weeks ago, and it was very expensive (but fun). So we realized we can probably only go once a summer, and would have to wait until next year for our next waterslide family adventure.

But one of our neighbors, who's kids come over and play with N, M, and S a lot and who works at WWU, invited our family to go as part of a larger birthday party happening there. Someone was celebrating their 60th birthday party and rented out the entire waterslide park for his party, and invited all his friends and told them they could bring guests too. And I guess there was music and food and lots of watersliding...

But I couldn't go. I had to finish a paper for school. One that I somehow lost from the computer last night, and had to basically start over again. And someone needed to stay to do the grocery shopping too.

I got the paper done, and H and the kids had a lot of fun, so it worked out well for everyone.

Today N said he really liked S, that she's "a good sister, she's fun to play with and she's smart", pause, "I think she's smarter than us". This was a remarkable statement from the older brother who has "hated" her for so long....though not constantly I must admit - they've always gotten along, it's just not consistent. In fact their relationship, with M too, can be pretty rocky at times. But these bright moments really make a difference for us. H called me at work just to let me know. They continued to play well together all day.

They're all very excited about tomorrow because they've decided it's their un-birthday. They're giving each other presents, toys that they already have, but it's the idea that counts, right? Now how the cake is going to work I don't know...

H is at the premier of the play she's in tonight. She's the first character on the stage. She was nervous and full of excited energy when she left. Hope she had fun. Wish I had some flowers for her....

School work deadlines coming up. I've got to do some writing tonight, at least 300-400 words. Easy!!

Working on HTML. It's getting easier the more I do it. Listening to Uncle Tupelo.

Yeah.

Our lawyer should be drafting the "demand letter" next week. Hopefully this whole house thing will be settled this year.

Labor Day weekend. H just took the kids for a hike after a rough morning. By rough I mean yelling and crying and such, especially for N. Stayed up until 1:30am again doing school work, but H let me sleep in until 9:30. Very sweet of her. Got up, cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes and lost my temper and gave out hugs and now I'm doing school work again. H looked tired and tense when she left. Hope the hike helps them all feel better.

Hi. This is the first post for this blog, and it's going to be about what it's like for me to work full time, be a good husband to my wonderful wife, be a good papa to my twin seven year old sons and four year old daughter, and finish grad school through a distance ed course at the same time.

We also bought a house four months ago through a land trust and we are still dealing with some complications there. More on that later, but the gist of it is that the seller lied to us on the disclosure forms and we have to get money back from him and/or his agent.

We also have three kittens running around, new experiences with neighborhood kids visiting a lot, and ambitous plans for our front yard (which we want to turn into a garden).