Noah is 4

I can hardly believe it, a 4 year old and a soon to be 6 year old.


Yesterday I was looking at Noah, I didn't say anything, and he gives me this weird look and says, "What?", like I'm acting weird or something. I'm like, "Nothing". A minute later I look at him again, he gives me the same funny look and says, "What?" Nothing, I said, I'm just looking at you. He thinks I'm crazy.

22

Today in the car Noah was playing with a new toy.

"Daddy, this is 22."

"What do you mean?"

He holds up the toy and on the bottom it's marked '22'.

Not bad for a 3 year old that thinks he's yellow years old.

Big Girl

Wow, tomorrow is Lexi's first day of Kindergarten. It really is hard to fathom how quickly 5 years have gone by. Today we dropped off supplies at her classroom, and tomorrow we'll drop her off at the front of the building and pick her up 2 hours later.

It's a big day for all of us /shudder.

RIP Alex Chilton

"Here's a revision that's kind of minor, it's just a little town down in Indochina" - Bangkok

The sad thing is, I thought he was already dead, but he was only 59.

If the name doesn't ring a bell, you'd probably at recognize him as the singer from the Box Tops with the hit song, "The Letter".

If it does ring a bell, you probably already know.

Happy Birthday, Lexi

Five years.

Five short years.

Sometimes it feels like 10, but usually more like 1 or 2. The time just flies past like nobody's business.

I remember that first night, Swedish Hospital, just the 3 of us. They got the bed, I got the chair. It was such a blur, such a lack of sleep that you didn't really know what was happening at any time. Changing diapers, feeding her, and sitting around until they finally released us late the next afternoon.

The first time I had to drop her off at daycare at 3 months old. It just seemed so cruel. Now it's such a relief sometimes, to know that they're going to be playing with other kids and eating a couple of square meals, compared to whatever slop I throw together for them.

Her first tooth, steps, words. Her first scrapes and tumbles. Her first smile and her first bath.

It's amazing how scared you can be with the first child, thinking of all the awful things that you are sure are going to happen any day now...it's just a matter of time. By the time her little brother was born, you're fine giving him a shard of glass and a lighter and just letting him go for it.

The time she was only maybe 6 months old and was throwing everything up for days, we took her to the emergency room and fed her by the dropper full. The doctor says, "Everything's fine, as long as she's not dehydrated". That's what I pretty much say all the time, but the wife never takes my word for it.

The first time she slept through the night all the way. Now THAT was a good night.

I'm not going to win any best-parenting contest anytime soon, but I will love that girl with all my heart for the rest of my life.

Happy birthday, babe.

March 6th and 7th

My wife is working that Wednesday and taking the weekend off. I cannot forget this.

A little treat

For those of you who still check this site. I tend to post more on Facebook now that I joined it a few weeks ago. Here's a video from Noah's 3rd birthday party today.

Happy Halloween

Bubbles the Powerpuff Girl and Black Spiderman. Oops, from right to left that is.

Noah's fashion style

I didn't get a picture, but Noah dressed himself today. He had some of those swishy gym pants on, but they're about 3 inches too short, so they look like capris. Then he put on a Spiderman shirt, with a Batman shirt over the top (both are the exact same color of blue). Then he had Batman socks on, with Spiderman sandals over those.

Noah loves his superheroes.

Let's try this one

This is from last year, but maybe you'll get an idea of how closely Joe Rospars resembles me.
I just need new glasses (which I now have, that are more like his), and more facial hair (which I now have). Damn he's good looking.

Well now, mom, anything to tell me about my twin brother separated at birth?

My Doppelganger

Bro-in-law Jeff sent me a link to myself. At least I thought it was myself when I opened it. I was thinking, "Hmm, when did I buy that suit?" Judge for yourself.

If you don't know what I look like, it's sort of like the guy on the right. His name is Joe Rospars. I'm looking for a picture of me that's recent and haven't come up with anything yet.

Happy Birthday Sister

I'm pretty sure I'm the worst brother in history, since her birthday was yesterday. I haven't phoned her yet. I don't think I did last year either, and next year isn't looking so good. I don't know what it is with me. General aversion to telephones? Birthdays?

Since her birthday is in August, as mine is, it was the one birthday I've always remembered pretty much my whole life. Except yesterday. Sorry hon!

Curiosity Almost Killed the Cat

Truman didn't come home last night. He left the house in the morning, as we left to take the kids to a sleepover. We didn't think much of it.

We didn't see him all day, come to think of it, as we were in and out of the house a lot during the day. After dinner it dawned on us that something might be wrong. Every 30 minutes one of us would go to the front door and call for him.

Nothing.

Today I was at work, but called home at noon to see if he'd turned up yet. Nope. The wiffer had driven around the neighborhood a little, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, or at least a corpse, maybe get a little closure. I wondered what was worse, him getting run over, or him being locked up in somebody's basement, the subject of grotesque little Frankencat experiments. My mind did run a little wild.

The kids were home when I got off work today, and they were going on about how they missed Truman. Lexi said we should go to the pet store and get another pet and name him Truman. Suddenly, out the back door, we hear a meow! There he was, just as if nothing had happened.

A minute later there was a knock at the front door. The lady from next door was apologizing, saying Truman was locked in her car's trunk. I think she had been unloading groceries and he jumped inside. That's her story anyway. I didn't see any stitches or electrical burns, but I wouldn't be too surprised to learn she'd been at least experimenting a little on the poor fella.

God Bless Les Paul

I know I'm a little late...was in Seattle for the weekend and got very ill indeed. If you've played an electric guitar, then give this guy your thanks.

No comment necessary

You don't need to tell us

A couple days ago, Billy Mays came on the tv with a commercial for the Slider Station, a little stove-top grill that makes mini-hamburgers.

Lexi looked up and said, "We have that".

A minute later, as Billy was further extolling said Slider Station, Lexi said, "You don't need to tell us! We already know!".

I couldn't help but laugh.

A Whale

Looking for a book...

I'm looking for a book. A specific book, entitled, "A History of Wenatchee, the Apple Capital of the World". The problem is, it's a pretty rare book, and usually goes for around $85 to 100 dollars.
I was able to check out a copy of it in Seattle, and it's a pretty detailed history of my hometown. If you see a copy for cheap, lemme know :)

One of the things the book mentions is the old Spanish Castle along the Columbia River. When I went home for hunting season last year my uncle Rick and my Dad told me stories of visiting the Spanish Castle when they were kids. Apparently this guy built it for his wife, then they put in a dam and it was buried underwater. They told me of the guy's son who flew an airplane there and they used to play in it. At least I think that's how the story goes. I wish I knew more about it. This picture is of the foundation of the Spanish Castle.

After some more Googling, I found this about the castle:

"TRINIDAD -- The development being proposed for the Columbia River, four miles west of Trinidad, is across the river and slightly north from where a cattle baron built a large home, known as the Spanish Castle, 89 years ago.
Construction of Spanish Castle was completed in 1918 at a cost of more than $20,000 by Lester Coffin, according to reports in The Wenatchee Daily World.
Coffin and his brother were Yakima-based cattlemen and "lords of the Tarpiscan range who counted their horses, cattle and sheep by the thousands," according to a May 21, 1927 World article.
Coffin dreamed for years of having a home along the Columbia River, resembling the residence of a Mexican president of the early 1900s.
The location he chose, on the river at the mouth of Tarpiscan Creek, was two miles into Kittitas County from the Kittitas-Chelan County line. It was remote and almost inaccessible.
An earlier rock house at the site had burned. Construction materials for the new house were hauled in over the rough Colockum Pass Road in covered wagons. Some materials were brought in from across the river.
The house had 13 to 17 rooms, including a spacious entrance hall, a reception room, living room, five bedrooms, two bathrooms and an indoor pool. Coffin didn't get to enjoy it. Just a few days after it was done, he died in a Wenatchee hospital.

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