Hockey

Annika went to her first hockey game the on Friday night - the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena. We got free tickets through a school reading program, and she got the full experience:

• She finished her popcorn before the game started
• The visiting team, the Hamilton Bulldogs, got their first penalty in 7 seconds, their second in other 10, and we scored right away - sound the foghorn!
• We scored again just after three minutes were up
• Amid a ton of penalties on both teams, Hamilton took the lead 3-2 before the first period was done
• They had a ridiculous game featuring kids and leaf blowers at the first intermission
• We got a second popcorn at the first intermission, and she would have finished it in no time if she didn't deliberately save it for the end of the second period
• During the third period she was featured on the big video screen
  
• With three minutes to go Hamilton got a penalty and we scored to tie it, much to Annika's delight - she gets into these things quite emotionally
• No one scored in overtime, so it went to a shootout
• Hamilton scored one of the flukiest shootout goals I've ever seen, on a puck that was blocked high into the air and then bounced screwy off the ice behind the goalie and went in
• We scored to tie the shootout on a controversial goal that might have been kicked in (if we missed the game was over)
• On the last pair of shootout attempts, they missed, we scored, and the celebration began
• The opposing coach stormed onto the ice, yelled at the referee, and even picked up a puck like he was going to throw it. The opposing goalie berated the ref from the bench.
• After a long and aborted wait for an elevator, we found a bathroom that we could both go in, since Annika had consumed a lot of water during the game.
• She fell asleep in the van on the way home

Whew! It was fun...

The Latest Pictures

The other day Jake was taking a nap. Then Lisa goes upstairs and finds the door to his room open, like this:

How is this so? Well, the culprit didn't flee the scene of the crime:


Abby spent some time baking with Lisa, wearing her apron from Grandma:


I took a picture of myself with Jake, during his "helmet-off hour":

My classes are done, finals are this coming week, while Lisa and the girls have two weeks to go. We'll see many of you soon!

3-Year-Old Alarm Clock

Everyone but Abby was sleeping this morning when she walked into our room and began talking about something. I don't know what it was, though, since I immediately noticed that it was 7:45, and clearly no alarm had gone off like it should have at 6:45. So: pee-clothes-frozen lunch-granola bar-coat-kisses, and I was gone. No showering or shaving, no real combing of the hair, no brushing of the teeth. Also, we had our first real snow of the year, so our street was an ice rink, and the drive to Big Rapids wasn't great, but it wasn't a disaster, either. Regardless, I was almost 20 minutes late for my first class.

On the way up, I tried to call the math department office so they could let my students know before they could employ some sort of made-up "10-minute rule" and left. However, I only got about 2 seconds of call time before my cell phone died. After thinking through the quickest way to redial, I managed to power it up one more time, and tried to say "It'sMikeDekkerI'mgoingtobelatehelp!" before it died again. It was like some movie where I was in danger and had a small window of time to alert the authorities. Apparently, they heard enough in the office or managed to figure it out, because someone spoke with my students. They didn't mind, and thought my Christmas All-Stars were cool.

In the end, the sky turned blue, all was well, and we had a nice evening with friends up in Cedar Springs with pizza, beer, ice cream, foosball, cards, and general chaos: 8 adults (ages 32,32,32,31,31,31,31,31), 10 kids (ages 6,6,5,5,3,3,2,2,1,8mo), and one yellow lab.

Piano Prodigy?

A Mish-Mash

OK, it's been forever. I wanted to do justice to the blog and put up good pictures of stuff, but there's been too much going on to spend the time on it. So, anyway, here's a rundown of stuff from the past four weeks:

I pretty much missed Halloween since I had to work late, but the girls had a great time, even though it was a little damp. They went as crayons, wearing felt costumes that Lisa did a great job making for them. She even made one for Jake, although he only wore it briefly.

Abby and Annika both started dance lessons at a new dance studio, located in the old Seymour Christian School. I spent parts of 8 school years working there, so returning was quite nostalgic.

Annika also started piano lessons with a woman from our church. She's enjoying them and doing pretty well.

We raked lots of leaves. One Monday morning there were 16 city of Grand Rapids yard waste bags in front of our house. We're doing pretty well getting settled, too.

The girls and I, over the course of 6 sessions or so, watched all of Star Wars. They're probably too young for it, really (Abby, at least), but they still enjoyed it. I'm sort of proud that they know names like Obi-Wan Kenobi. They can't ever seem to remember C-3PO, though.

We continue to watch Dancing with the Stars (see a previous post on my blog - link at right), and while some justice was served last week when Jane Seymour got the boot, somehow Marie Osmond continues to survive. It matters to us.

Jake is officially helmet-headed now, to deal with his somewhat misshapen head. We're a couple weeks into what will be at least a 3-month process, and we've pretty much gotten used to it - he has too. You can't kiss those baby cheeks as well anymore, but Jake is still Jake.

Who knows how much I forgot just now, but we'll call that good.

Penny Update!

Go read my previous post first, which is also from today, if you haven't yet.

While I was sitting at the computer today, Annika came and informed me that I had a "fecal dissection opportunity" (not her words). I went and found the two flat-headed screwdrivers that I had conveniently stored in a bathroom drawer in preparation for a month's worth of these opportunities and went to work. Lo and behold, with a little poking and prodding I discovered . . .

A nickel! Either someone was still learning her coins when the swallowing incident occurred, or Lisa and I have stumbled upon the source of our retirement funds: Annika, who apparently can ingest money and quintuple its value in a mere 9 days! That's the same as having a retirement account with an interest rate (yes, I did the calculation) of at least 6,527%. I'm going to the bank and then feeding her $100 bills tonight. She can probably get them down with some ketchup.

The Blog Return

We're moved! It's almost been 3 weeks, and we're settling in pretty well to the new house. Much of it is still a mess, but we're getting there. It's amazing how little we think about the old house. Our digital camera is officially broken, so we still don't have good pictures to post. I guess you'll have to come see it.

We're enjoying the house for all the reasons we moved - much less time in the car, as we're closer to pretty much everything except Ferris and the place we picked blueberries. I'm adjusting to the longer drive, and started carpooling with some people last week. It's working out OK.

We also ended up with a bigger house than we had before, which wasn't the intention of the move but worked out nicely. It's been a good thing, too, since we have room to pile stuff that we haven't unpacked yet. We moved an embarrassing amount of possessions. The neighborhood is nice, too, with lots of kids and the playground behind our house. I do feel more pressure to keep the lawn (not just a yard, but a real lawn!) looking nice, though. Overall, we're doing well, adjusting to all the little differences (like different appliances, city water, city garbage, no cable TV (for now), new windows, the quirks of an older house, etc).

In non-house related news, Annika swallowed a penny at school last week. We've had the pleasure of checking to see if it "came out" for a week now. On Monday she had an x-ray taken to confirm the penny was still in there, and it was very obvious that it was. After a zillion phone calls in a few days after a lot of confusion and miscommunication, we were expecting to get a call to bring her in for a "scope-down-the-throat" procedure to pull it out of her stomach. Instead, we scheduled the procedure . . . for November 20. Apparently the docs don't mind her passing the coin by herself or letting a penny sit in her stomach for a month. Weird.

It's been a crazy few weeks. A viral thing went through all three kids recently, too. OK, until next time...

The Move Is On

Quickly, before class:

We closed on our house last Friday, in a series of transactions that involved four parties and three properties (we were party #3). Amazingly, all went smoothly. We got keys to our new place on Monday, and started moving some things in on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I have to proctor and help grade a huge calculus test Wednesday and Thursday, but then I don't have class on Friday, so we can do some more. Saturday our friend Justin comes at 8am with a big truck to move furniture and we spend our first night at the new house, Sunday we deal with loose ends, and Monday the buyers of our old house get possession. It's too bad we couldn't have done all this over the summer, but we're glad it happened at all.

We've already begun to meet our new neighbors, and they're all very nice. There's a pile of young kids on our street, too.

We'll get some pictures up of the new house sometime soon, although our digital camera is kicking the bucket on us.

Last night at dinner Abby said "I smell like I'm full."

Until later...

School and Stuff

It's September; it's time for school (except for Jake).

Ferris started first, before Labor Day, and things are going well. I'm applying for tenure this semester, and my committee already recommended me for it, so I should get it. It's mostly just a change in status at Ferris, as promotions aren't tied directly to tenure. It does mean that there are more committees I could serve on.

Millbrook started the day after Labor Day for Lisa and Annika, who is now a full-fledged full-time first grader. She's doing well. Abby started preschool the next day. She'll have two years of it, since she's only 3, and a young 3. We debated whether or not to start her, but the preschool teacher was all for it, since she's a girl (they handle this stuff better than boys) and since Millbrook is a very familiar place to her. She's actually the youngest in her class by 6 months, and almost certainly the youngest student at Millbrook. So far so good, though.

The hardest part so far is the commute for Lisa and the kids. Annika has to go to school every day, and thus has spent a couple nights a week at Grandma's house to lighten the driving for everyone, since Lisa and Abby only go Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Getting both girls up really early those days is tough - Abby is usually a disaster, although she's fine by the time school starts.

Of course, all of this will be remedied once we move! We're a week from closing and two weeks from moving in. It will lengthen my drive but certainly improve things for Lisa and the kids. Annika will even get to ride the bus, and she's excited about that.

We actually looked at our new house again today, as the sellers are selling much of the furniture that's currently in there. We bought a dresser, but mostly it was fun to see the house knowing that we'll be there soon. The couple selling the house was there, too, and it was fun to meet them - they're excited to be selling to another CRC Millbrook family, and it was good to get some inside info on the house, like where in the basement's drop ceiling the shutoffs for the underground sprinkling are hiding. We're only the third owners, after the first two owned it for 11 and 25 years (it was built in 1971).

That's where we are now! The packing has begun, the pool table's been somewhat disassembled, we've started changing addresses and calling utilities, and our riding lawnmower is for sale. Until next time...

Progress

Yay, we bought a house! Papers are signed, and inspections are starting. If nothing goofy happens, we should be moving the last weekend of September. More on that when we're actually in...

Otherwise, wedding season is finished for us. I can't possibly do justice to Greg and Katelyn's wedding in a few minutes, so I won't start. I'll just say that it was a really good time. Last weekend, though, we went to cousin Heidi's wedding, which had some of the best wedding food I've ever encountered. Annika danced until we left. The weirdest moment for me was being on the dance floor with my daughter, my aunt, and my mom while they were playing Sir Mix-a-Lot.

Jake went with too, of course, and in the span of his 5 month life, he attended 6 wedding showers and 3 actual weddings. That will probably not happen again.

Off to class!

Hunting Houses

But first - a couple days ago we hit the 1st anniversary of the purchase of our minivan. The same day, the odometer hit 18,000. Them's some crazy miles. We'd like to avoid doing that again, so...

We officially made an offer on a house today! We've already received a counter-offer, so negotiations are ongoing, but so far everything has been positive. I almost hesitate to write that, since we've had two houses the past couple weeks that we thought were going to be "the one", only to have them go down in flames (not literally). We're hopeful that the third time will be the charm and that we'll be moving by the end of September. We'll let you know, so you can help us move (bring boxes and any pool table levitation devices you may own).

Meanwhile, school starts for me tomorrow, and then Lisa and the girls start right after Labor Day. It's a busy and crazy time. And six days until college football!

Stories

Parenting Event 1:

Monday I was home with the girls and on the phone with someone from a potential mortgage company. Abby started wailing at one point, and I asked Annika to check on her. That went something like this:

"Abby, what's wrong?"

Pause, more crying.

Angrily: "Abby, what's WRONG?!!"

That didn't help. Eventually, I got her on my lap, still on the phone, and she started drawing letter A's on my paper. I continued talking, and then it happened: a disturbingly warm sensation in my lap. Now, if I'm on the phone with someone I know, I go into action immediately and try to do something, but I'm already embarrassed about dealing with a fussy kid while on the phone trying to have a serious financial conversation, so I don't, and - yes, indeed - Abby just pees all over both of us. I managed to finish the call a few minutes later, but had to endure the disgusting dampness for a few minutes. It was very, very gross.

Parenting Event 2, same day:

I'm in the basement while the girls are upstairs playing, and I come up to find them playing with water in the bathroom. That's mostly OK, but then I notice that Annika has my cellphone. I take it away from her with some words about how it's not a toy and water could ruin it, while she just looks guilty. That would have been the end of it, but she couldn't resist telling me "I was using it to take pictures." So, we check her photos - there's one of Abby washing her arms, and then one of the toilet in mid-flush. So, I ask "Did you flush the toilet just to take a picture of it?" Her answer: "No." Clicking to the next picture, taken immediately before the flush picture, and there it is: Annika's poop, with used toilet paper, in the bowl. That's number two for the day (get it?).

The same day, some cat yarfed in the basement, too.

On a non-bodily function note, Annika also used "air-quotes" while speaking that day too. I'd never seen that before.

Until the next one...

This Post Has Nothing To Do With Soybeans

A few more summer events...

Lisa and I had our 11th anniversary (so we've now been married half of Greg and Lizzy's lives) and actually managed to do dinner and a movie (with a stop in between to feed Jake). We saw the Bourne Ultimatum, which was excellent, and hit the Olive Garden. At this point, there's nothing more enjoyable than going out for dinner without kids.

Jake got his first ear infection, and we discovered his first allergy - after the doc prescribed Amoxicillin, Jake broke out in hives, so we ceased that medication immediately. Lisa's allergic, too, but neither of the girls are. So, we switched antibiotics and took care of it. Not soon after, though, Jake got what the doc described as some viral infection that made him break out all over. We thought it might be heat rash, since it's been so warm and he lays on his back so much. Obviously, the doc said otherwise, but it didn't prevent Lisa from going to Chicago with the kids and her mom, so I had three nights at home by myself (with three cats, and our friends' dog for one night). With the prime opportunity to watch some movies at appropriate volume levels without concern for sleeping children, I watched the entire Matrix trilogy. I almost went for The Lord of the Rings but opted for shorter movies.

Also, the online summer class I was teaching is over, so we have a week's worth of emptiness before Greg and Katelyn get married and then school starts to kick in. Lisa and the girls don't start until after Labor Day, though. Abby's going to start preschool, too, at the ripe age of 3 - she'll have two years of it that way, but she should do fine, for less than three hours, three days a week. Millbrook is already a very familiar place for her, too.

Meanwhile, there's been some . . . progress . . . made on selling our house, but I don't want to jinx anything so that's all I'll say.

Finally, some brilliant words of wisdom from the Matrix movies:

"Some things never change." Pause. "Some things do change."

Wow, what pure enlightenment. Let's blow something up!

Summer Swimmin'

Our summer has featured lots of swimming for our girls - at Long Lake, Rockford Middle School (swimming lessons), the Groenenbooms, Aunt Lizzy's apartment, Aunt Jen's apartment, a teaching colleague's house, and my Uncle Andy's house (I think that's all of them). Annika has turned into quite the little trout, and can almost swim without any flotation device. When she is wearing one, though, she doesn't have any inhibitions - she and I were trading cannonballs off the diving board at Uncle Andy's house the other night. Her diving board (jumping board?) repertoire also includes "the pencil", a full twist, and the "pencil with a twist" combination (degree of difficulty 2.1). Meanwhile, Kainan, age 7, was easily outdoing both of us with dives, flips and twists in every direction.

Following Katelyn's shower at Uncle Andy's a few weeks back, Jake even got into the action, floating (literally) quite happily in the hot tub (at a warm, but not hot, temperature).

Also, our house continues to ride the real estate market. While we had nearly two months of no action at all, in the last few weeks we've had a number of people look at it , we had an open house, and one semi-interested party has asked some questions. We haven't seen any offers yet, though, and the start of school is on the horizon. We'll see...

Stuff I Forgot

Other things that I missed in the last post:

Abby had a birthday! She's three now, and acts like it on occasion. We made it through the event and managed to keep Annika from taking charge of Abby's newly opened gifts.

We have long hoses at our house, one connected in the garage and the other in the back. They can come together in the yard, and the girls had a good old time a few weeks ago playing with them. They sprayed each other plenty, but Annika really enjoyed blasting her own head. I also played "avoid the water", and tried to take the nozzles away from them, but they can turn the nozzles too fast for you to "fake them out" and even get close. Below, Annika tries to get me, but with a poorly chosen nozzle setting. Abby's would do a better job. Overall, we all got soaked.

Also, the other day Annika got three nasty bug bites and then had a spectacular allergic reaction to them and broke out in hives. She's since recovered, but not until she took some prescribed steroids that reduced the hives but made her cah-wazy! In the evening she was on an incredible emotional roller coaster, where she was spastically excited and oblivious to others and common sense, but also despondent and weeping beyond consolation over the stupidest little stuff. Thankfully, it's over now.

Finally:

Insert funny caption here.

Summer Happenings

Here's to being in the education profession:

Even though I'm currently teaching a class, it's fully online, so I don't have to go to Big Rapids all that often. That gives us the time to go pick raspberries, visit the zoo, get ice cream and play at the park. Having an infant throws a wrench into a lot of things, but we're fortunate to have a lot of freedom even so.

On the 4th of July we took the girls to see Ratatouille, which is deserving of all the good reviews that it's received. The big screen and big sound are still intimidating to the girls, but they mostly enjoyed themselves (although Abby will tell you she didn't like it). Crazily enough, though, we went in the afternoon and used a coupon to get popcorn and pop, and it still cost $30.50 for the four of us.

Later that night I took Annika to see the Sand Lake fireworks, near our house. We sat at an overpass of US 131, which put us about a kilometer away (based on a 3 second delay between seeing the firework and hearing the boom, and knowing that the speed of sound is more than 300 meters per second (thank you, physics degree)). It was just me and her, and we had a nice time, although it's hard to pass the time by playing "I spy" when it's dark out.

Other stuff:

Recently Jake has slept his longest nights yet, including a 9 and a half hour spell one night from 10pm to 7:30am between feedings. We had to pop a pacifier in twice, I think, but he never left his bed, and we weren't out for more than a few minutes. We couldn't be more pleased.

The other day Lisa had the perm taken out of her hair, so she' s curl-less for the first time since she was 8 years old. I think it looks a-good.

Annika tried to read the word "detective" on the cover of a book the other day, and it came out "deciphering." Of course, that's nowhere phonetically close, but I was impressed that she remembered hearing "deciphering" somewhere.

Finally, while Annika was at the counter on a barstool the other day, I poured her some Ice Blue Raspberry flavor Kool-Aid. She took a sip, and said "Creamy blue, sweet as a thousand seas." I busted out laughing.