[caption id="attachment_2537" align="aligncenter" width="497" caption="Time to go on a safari! "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2545" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="I really am having fun, I just like to pretend I'm not"][/caption]

A funny thing happened on our outing.  We stopped at Burger King on the way.  Scott had to run in to get a straw.  He had a Netflix DVD in his pocket because we were going to look for a mail box along the way.  When we got to the zoo he realized he didn't have it anymore.  He thought he must have dropped it at Burger King somewhere since that's the only place we stopped.  We hoped that someone nice would find it and put it in the mail for us, but were afraid we may be stuck with the charge.  On the way home we stopped just in case.  There was trash in the parking area, wrappers and stuff, and luckily I spotted the DVD!  It was kind of folded and showing the white side so it wasn't very obvious.  In fact it probably would have been swept up with the trash without anyone noticing it was a DVD.  It even looked like it had been driven over, but somehow the DVD was in perfect condition, even though the wrapper looked terrible.  It must have been our lucky day!

I thought we had some birthday candles, but we didn't, so we put a regular candle off to the side that he got to blow out.

He couldn't wait until the end of the song, though, and blew it out right away.  I don't think he really believed it was his birthday until this point.  He loved the cake and ice cream and then we pulled out his present.  He got a Magna Doodle.  He had one that he got for Christmas that he loved to death.  It broke, which made me not want to get another one if it couldn't even last 6 months, but I succumbed since I knew how much he loved it.  It was a hit!

Of course he had to show us all what a smarty pants he is.  He actually knows his whole alphabet, but here is just part of it.

[wpvideo 0NHoWe38]

He spent the rest of the evening writing and drawing pictures.  All in all it was a fun birthday for a cute boy!

We left Friday after Scott got home from work and after we got everything together and packed in the car.  We headed to a camping spot a friend in the ward had told me about along the Nestucca River.  We had also passed it on our way to Tillamook this summer, so we knew the general area.  It was first come first serve so I was hoping that it wouldn't be too busy with Labor Day weekend.  Unfortunately I made a wrong turn that set us back a little.  Scott told me I was paying too much attention to the beautiful countryside.  Hmph, my family sure likes to give me a hard time about that!  We did manage to get there before all the daylight was gone and we got the last camping spot available.  We had a few snags though.  I bought a camp skillet for cooking things like hamburgers, pancakes, eggs, etc.  Gabe had put it together and read all the instructions during the day, but we hadn't tried it out with the propane.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get it to work right for some reason.  We had plenty of cold food like chips, fruit, granola bars, crackers, and so on.  We weren't going to starve, but the kids were disappointed.  We also hadn't brought firewood.  We searched around but couldn't start a fire with what we gathered.  I don't think it was dry enough.  That was another thing they were sad about, but this was a good learning experience.  We told them we have to make mistakes to learn from and on our first camping trip we were bound to make a few mistakes.  (By the way, after we got home Gabe figured out how to get the skillet working!)

Gabe did a great job, as usual, putting together the tent.  The kids all slept really well, but I decided next time I need more blankets and an air mattress!  That ground was really hard.  I also kept worrying about if the kids were warm enough, although since they were sleeping soundly I guess they must have been warm enough!

Saturday morning was beautiful.  I took the short walk down to the river with Josh and Noah.  Eventually, the others woke up and we had some breakfast and cleaned up camp.  Then we took a little hike to a nearby waterfall.  It was quite an adventure!  The trails were really slippery and muddy.  This is a place that rains about 300 days a year.  I think all of us took a spill at some point.  Mine happened to be while crossing a little stream, so I got my shoes and socks completely drenched!  It was actually really fun though.  It was kind of a family bonding thing helping each other across the stream and up the slippery hills.  Here's the little waterfall and there's Gabe threatening to cross a slippery log which, had he fallen, would have led him to a pretty decent fall into rocks and shallow water.  I'm glad he refrained!

We all made it back in one piece and took a little drive a few miles away and stopped to play on the shore of the river a little and see another small waterfall.

We were just going to stop for a few minutes, but the kids were having fun throwing rocks into and across the river and it was such a beautiful and peaceful spot that we decided to stick around.  I pulled out my book and we brought the food down and just relaxed there.  Some kids that were camping nearby came to play with our kids.  Their grandma and grandpa had brought them for several days and they came and chatted with us.  The grandpa built a fire, which was fun to sit around.  They shared marshmallows and hot dogs with us and we had a really nice visit with them.  I was able to dry my shoes and feet by the fire.  Crazy Josh and Sammy even put their swimming suits on and swam in the river a little bit.

It was one of those things that we couldn't have really planned but turned out to be the perfect way to spend a few hours.  After that we took the beautiful drive home (although I admit I missed most of it since I fell asleep).  All in all it was a great trip.  We learned a few things to do differently next time, but we had a lot of fun.  The kids were already talking about when the next time we can go is.  With all the sports and refereeing and busyness in our schedules coming up it will probably be awhile, so we're sure glad we took the effort this weekend!

Today is Noah's 3rd birthday, so I thought I would write about his real birth day.  We were very excited for Noah to join our family.  We had an almost 6-year gap between Sammy and Noah so it was a big change to have a baby in the family again.  The pregnancy went along pretty well, although all the aches and annoyances of pregnancy seemed worse, whether it was because I was a bit older or just out of practice I don't know.  With each of my pregnancies the Braxton Hicks contractions started earlier and happened more frequently.  Now those are annoying!  I have been lucky to have fairly smooth pregnancies though, so I really can't complain!

Toward the end of my pregnancy the doctor realized Noah was breech and wasn't turning around.  He wouldn't deliver him that way and said that if he didn't turn we would have to do a C-section.  I know it's not the end of the world, but I really didn't want to have a C-section if I could avoid it.  I tried all sorts of things to convince him to turn, even standing on my hands in a swimming pool.  You can read all sorts of fun things to try on the internet.  I put frozen vegetables where I thought his head was to convince him to move.  I played music where I wanted his head to go to see if I could entice him.  I asked him really nicely, but he was stubborn.  The doctor scheduled my C-section for August 31 at 2 p.m.  On August 30 I had a doctor's appointment, but my regular doctor wasn't there.  I think it was a physician's assistant that I saw.  She said she couldn't tell for sure if he was breech but she thought so.  I convinced her to let me get an ultrasound because if he wasn't breech I could avoid a C-section.  I got the ultrasound and found out that he was transverse, basically sideways.  He was on his way, but still not in the right position, and all things were a go for a C-section the next day.

That night I was talking with a friend on the phone, telling her about what was happening and that I was going in for a C-section the next day.  While I was talking to her, though, I started feeling contractions that seemed like they could be the real thing.  I thought that would be perfect if he could just turn and make his appearance before the scheduled C-section!  After a short time I was pretty convinced that this was it and I knew I needed to get to the hospital quickly in case he was still breech, and also because I didn't know how quickly my labor would go.  Since Sammy was born 13 minutes after I got to the hospital, I thought I'd better get in there as quickly as I could.  Uncle Pat was nice enough to come pick up Gabe, Josh, and Sammy, who were actually all asleep in bed.  I vividly remember him pulling into the driveway in his big truck and carrying my sleeping boys out.

When I got to the hospital they were kind of slow with checking me out and the whole process (surprise!) and didn't seem to be listening to me that well.  Finally a nurse came in and said she saw that I was scheduled for a C-section the next day and the baby was breech and wondered why I hadn't told them.  Um, I had tried!  Anyway, she said she would check me out and I was so excited when she said, "I'm pretty sure that's a head there.  He seems to have turned around."  I explained to her that I didn't want any medications and she was very supportive and encouraging all night.  Unfortunately she went home and the next nurse was less than supportive.  She felt like I wasn't progressing fast enough (I guess my body's schedule didn't suit her) and even though I specifically said I didn't want it she gave me drugs to speed the labor up.  I actually managed labor really well without pain medication until the very last.  That last part is rough.  My body temperature seems to go wacky and I got really hot and of course it was painful, but that part didn't last very long.  There was a little confusion because basically I'm screaming that it's time and apparently they weren't ready for me and told me to hold on a minute.  Uh, okay, sure.  A doctor came in and started getting ready to deliver.  Then my regular doctor comes in.  He hadn't got the message about the C-section being canceled so he was there to get ready for that.  He told the other doctor, "This is my patient.  I can deliver the baby."  The other doctor said, "It's okay.  I'm all ready to go here."  They kind of went back and forth a few times and I'm like, "just deliver the baby, somebody!"  Hospitals and doctors can really drive me crazy, which is why I decided with my most recent pregnancy that I was going to use a birth center instead.  Unfortunately that ended in miscarriage, but I think I would have liked having a less stressful birth experience.  This all happened pretty quickly, though, and next thing I knew I had a beautiful, healthy baby boy, born at 11:54 a.m.

By the way, my hair really wasn't dyed crazily, we were just using a disposable camera since we forgot ours, and the pictures themselves weren't great, but scanning them renders them even worse!  We were very excited to get to know our sweet new little guy.

Pat and Monique came by for a visit and then brought the boys over after school that evening to meet their new brother.

We couldn't wait to take our cute little guy home.

Now Noah is 3 years old!

In ways it feels like it has been a lot longer than 3 years.  A lot of things have changed in our lives since he was born, like moving to a new state!  Noah has brought so much joy into our lives.  He loves to sing and play.  He especially loves to draw!  He says funny things all the time.  Just for an example, the other day Scott said "Come here, baby" and Noah said in a very indignant voice, "I not a baby anymore" with kind of a stress and stretching out of "anymore."  The way he said it was really cute and it made us laugh because it was so unexpected.  He is still my baby, though, and today as he sat on my lap in church playing with my hair and falling asleep on my shoulder I thought about how quickly that will pass and I held him a little tighter.

YouTube - Nerdcore Rising Announces the PAX Screening in this VIDEO

"Nerdcore Rising" - a documentary about Nerdcore hip hop - stars a bunch of folks like MC Frontalot, Weird Al Yankovic, Prince Paul, and Brian Posehn. But, none are more influential, inimitable, or god-like to gaming nerds than Tycho & Gabe of the Penny Arcade. Therefore, it is with joyous heart and a gamer's carpal tunnel that we would like to announce, in catchy video format, that the West Coast Premiere of "Nerdcore Rising" will be at the Penny Arcade Expo on August 30, 2008, 4pm, at the Seattle Convention Center.

Please be entertained with the same exact message by watching this video!

What else can we expect?

"The PS3 version is going to integrate with a bunch of features on the PLAYSTATION Network, including Score Rankings and the oft-requested Trophies. Plus, don’t forget that you’ll be able to customize your character to appear in both 3D and in the 2D cutscenes and that character (look, stats and inventory) can carry forward to future episodes! Last, but not least, the game supports full 1080p resolution. We’re putting the last touches on everything now for SCEA’s final approval and the game’s launch on the PSN this winter."

Read the whole post here.

Even though the game goes for $20 on Live Arcade it is worth it. It is action RPG that takes about six hours to complete and probably 7 if you wanted to get 100%. The best part of the game is the humor which is of course along the same lines as the webcomic. Every couple minutes I was laughing out loud about something. The enemies in the game range from fruit fuckers to mimes and also include clowns and hobos. This game isn't very challenging and is geared towards average RPG players like myself. Your health is replenished after every battle and through out the game I only fainted once. Your party is comprised of the custom player that you make in the beginning of the game and Gabe and Tycho. Throughout the game three support characters join your party and all I can say is even though Thomas Kemper seems like he sucks you should still use him as much as possible. The cell shading is really good looking and it gives the game a comic book feel. If you are looking for a fun RPG that makes you laugh you should pick this up. 

7 out of 10

Rock Out!

-Roy

come we gonna catch that

FIRE.

so today i woke up at 845 much to my dismay (6 hours after i left into the unconsciousness)

why you ask?

i was txting danielle mcnally

i mean devin palladino

i don't know how i managed to, but somehow, devins number got placed into my phone as danielles.

so i excitedly txted her until 245 in the morning.

it was still a good conversation

but it makes a lot more sense now. devin is kinda dumb and whiney about things. and i picked up on that.

now i have danielle's number and its all right i guess

but with devin. i coulda easily lied saying i forgot (she mentioned italy, i said you didn't go, she sent me pics, i realized oops wrong person, so i covered up.)

but i realized that that is dishonest.

i dunno today i kinda gave into stupid little things

another thing i realized last night was that i really was a horrible sinner.

i forgot that lusting in your mind is the same as actually doing it.

so good job their

i dunno.

silly me i guess.

but today i did the mantage video and it took waaay too long.

me and gabe got most of it done. then we decided it would be a good idea to go to nathans house and do stuff with him.

it wasn't.

its all right i guess. but it just ended up us playing around at his house waiting for a ride.

we got in'n'out though so its all right.

oh and apparently my dad got the sprint thing cleared up so his credit report is fine

now he can refinance the house.

and i can start shoppin for cars.

yippee!

that book really has changed many of the ways i think.

i am reviewing its lessons again by reading each question i had to answer and rewriting it neater in a new note book. not recopying it. but rewriting it.

i pray that i can do the history as well.

i know that god will clear it up for me though.

im gonna have to basically rely totally on him to help me do that cause i have basically only tomorrow when i think about it.

oh well.

on that note.

maybe i should sleep.

hah. sounds good.

yeah but i love god.

i am so freakin thankful for where i am today. being surrounded by all these christians is so encouraging and helpful.

my faith is ever growing.

and i hope it aint some crappy perennial. haha.

love,

me.

ps 2 weeks until my retainer gets back...

pss i kinda want to go to L'Abri and check it out

There are a few worry points, they are still not sure the extent of, or even if, there will be permanent damage.  They probably won't know that for a few years once he begins to develop more advanced motor and verbal skills.  They are also worried about his muscle tone and response.  But just the fact they think they can send him how in just over a week, that is God's grace and love.

Oops! I forgot I wasn't supposed to call it a date. Let's say it was a mother son outing. Gabe went with me tonight (I guess it was last night now) to the Jack Johnson concert. Okay, originally this was supposed to be mine and Scott's big anniversary date (a couple of months after our anniversary), but it didn't quite work out that way. Things were just too busy and crazy. He had scouts tonight that he could have gotten out of, but Josh had football practice and we weren't sure how to work out babysitting, etc. Finally I decided that since Gabe actually knows and enjoys Jack Johnson and Scott hadn't heard of him until I brought up the concert, maybe I should take Gabe and Scott and I will do something else later. That solved our difficulties in one fell swoop.

Before I talk about the concert, I'll just say that today was crazy! I had lots of errands and things that had to be done. I have a pile of work that still has barely been started, with no clear plan on when it will be finished because tomorrow is packed as well. One interesting note from the day was that Gabe had a doctor checkup and he was exactly 100 pounds. He is now 5 feet 4 inches. Crazy! I remember so well when he was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. How does that happen?! He has been a teenager for almost a year now, but just this summer I have started seeing the real signs of adolescence and it's so weird for me. I'm not old enough to have a teenager am I?

So, moving on. As I said, the day was a little harried. I got the directions for the concert on Google maps, which told me that it would take us about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get there. I had to wait for Scott to get home because he needed to take Noah and give me some money. By the time I pulled out of our fair city I had 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the concert. That would give me 10 minutes to park. Cool. (Can you sense what's coming yet?) What Google maps was not aware of, though, was how popular and loved Jack Johnson is and that due to bumper to bumper traffic for much of the way, it would actually take me about 3 hours and 10 minutes to get there. That's right. We were 2 hours late. Funny thing is, we were far from alone. Hoards of people were walking in with us. I was trying not to be majorly stressed out and a basket case. Gabe was taking it all in stride, though. We got to the gate and the lovely people made me take my camera back to the car, but hey, what's another 10 minutes? A funny thing, in that stop and go traffic I had time to study the tickets and noticed it said "rain or shine." Hmm, did that mean this event was outside? Yes, as a matter of fact it was. Did we bring an umbrella? No.

Into the concert we finally went. We happened to arrive during an intermission and worked our way to the standing area to the front left of the stage. Luckily it wasn't raining and it wasn't too cold, although Gabe ended up being cold and used my jacket, but I was fine. Despite the stress of being late, it really was a gorgeous drive through hills and forests with the dropping sun. The setting of the amphitheater, called Columbia Meadows, was really beautiful and it was kind of fun to be outside. A drawback of being outside, though, was all the smoking. Between the smells of alcohol, tobacco, and another strong and unpleasant odor I could not identify (but I had my guesses), I was feeling a little sick to my stomach. Add that to the stress of the drive and I was starting to wonder if I hadn't made a huge mistake spending all the money for the tickets and gas and using all that time when I should have been working.

Then Jack came out. He started singing and his magic started working. It didn't take very long until I was smiling and relaxed and dancing to the music. I just don't think you can listen to Jack Johnson and be stressed out. Since almost everyone I mentioned this concert to didn't know who Jack Johnson was (and country seemed to be the first guess as to style of music) I'll just say that he sings really laid back music with lots of guitar and great rhythms. It's not country at all! I love his lyrics too. He has great stories and images in his writing. Some of his songs have very political messages and world views in them. Others are sweet and original love songs. He is really a great songwriter. The music just gets into me somehow. On the way to the concert I was trying to think of which song is my favorite and I couldn't do it, but I guess my top five, in no particular order, are Broken, No Other Way, Flake, Better Together, and Constellations, but I'm still leaving out songs I love so maybe I just shouldn't pick favorites.

The concert went until 11 so we did get 2 full hours of music and it was definitely worth it. In fact I was so loving it that I was thinking to myself that I need to go to Jack Johnson concerts whenever I get the opportunity and I need to download the rest of his songs that I don't have yet, and I need to buy the Curious George DVD and I need to move to Hawaii so that I can maybe run into him sometimes. Well not really the last one, but being there was definitely increasing my fan devotion. By the end of the concert there was some misty rain, but it wasn't bothering me at all. I was mellow. No worries. Gabe at times thought the music was too loud and had his fingers in his ears. It looked like he was unhappy but he actually said it sounded perfect that way and I think he really did enjoy it. I also really liked the pianist, Zach Gill. He had a fun personality and was amazing on the keyboard. He also sang a bit and has a great voice. He played a little accordion and sang a couple of songs that he wrote. He was very entertaining. It was a great night. I wish Scott could have been there with me, but I'm glad I got to have a fun night with my very sweet Gabe.

Hmm, this was supposed to be short, but once I started writing I couldn't stop! It's a good thing I've been staying up late this summer so I wasn't tired tonight. But now it's really time to go to bed!

and im talking to danielle mcnally

so we are comparing schedules and i just realized

i am in all honors!!

heres my schedule so i dont have to keep going back to it

in order

spanglish 2 saldariaga

journalism mr underwood

pre calc (HONORS!) mako

lang and comp ap edwards

chem (HONORS!) paxson

found christian thought nandor

ap us koster

i have one of the hardest schedules possible

the problem is a asked to NOT be put in honors for those classes cause they dont do much more

but i kinda want to be in them now

realizing this is my last year basically

i want to live it to the fullest

haha

and maybe god wants me to push myself this year

thats what i'll do this year

push

so heres the scoop on brittany

its over

done with

i liked her she didn't like me

which is fine i have basically lost most the feeling for her anyways

it wasnt too strong

friends may be the smarter thing.

i didnt want it to be much more than friends anyways

so i need to talk to her and not leave her in the dark as she did me

haha anyways

i may have found an alternative already

(boy ami jumpy)

so today was mild as well

just basically me reading total truth (last chapter!!)

so i'll finish that tomorrow

then get my retainer

then start ap us

yay.
so today we also worked out

me, gabe, and joel

it was strange

definitely different

but i can see us maturing

and it is weird

we are getting bigger stronger more competent more able more open growing up i guess

becoming

"men"

oh joy.
also i had a clearing up with lynnzee

she likes me (duh)

we talked on the phone and txt for a while

its not gonna work

i tried to minister to her and its tough

but shes too convinced that she is a good person

oh well

hopefully she will see god through me staying pure

as she was offering to run around a few bases

and btw hawaiian music is the bomb

its jammin

its calming

its beautiful

i love it

love,

me.

ps haha i win.

if my title didn't turn you on.

i had a recent rerevelation (haha like again) that balance is the key to approaching life

dont be gullible

but dont be cliche

another one was this analogy

god makes a buncha candles right?

and each candle is a person in the world

they all have the common purpose to shine the light for their maker

but some are dampened by the rain, sprinklers, or a different lesser god shooting it with a squirt gun (it sounds blasphemous but don't think about it in a polytheist way)

some candles are fancy and huge. dazzling all the neighboring candles

but they all do the same thing ultimately. not one shines brighter in a manner relative to the maker. not one shines longer in a way that the maker notices.

all he cares about is how there is light for him. and his creation is good again.

hah cool eh?

it doesn't explain all things but it explains a lot.

today though

lets seeeee

nothing happened

i read my book

worked out (without gabe)

and talked to my dad a lot

but i did remember how much i miss working out

it is a great feeling when you work really hard

i had another revelation

and just had another

a day spent in meditation and learning and discussion has produced several good revelations

i dont know where but silent time does produce good results

ill tell you though

i didn't read the bible like i said i would

i remember god driving 80 on the freeway

but not when i read a christian book?

revelation #5

iamanidiot

revelation #3

god made me how i am

and i am in the place i am for a reason

god put me here to fulfill him

imagine how cool it'd be if tv produced a tv star

who was a christian

god has already done it with miley cyrus

which is awesome

i think the new frontier of evangelicalism is hollywood!

anyways i must fulfill this position to the best of my ability

therefore i must not be concerned about my image

but improve it

i must not worry about my skills

but harp on them

i must not dwell on things of the world

but excel in them

all i can do is keep my eyes on god and hope i shine my best for him.

love,

me.

ps i noticed joel didnt cuss at all today. praise god!

The beach in Seaside is really different from the other beaches we've been to in Oregon. For one thing it has a huge expanse of smooth sand and not so much of the rocks or driftwood. In that way it's more like the Southern California beaches we remember. The icy cold water? Not so much like Southern California. Because of the fog I didn't really get a feel for the surroundings, like what there was to see in the distance.

There were a lot of people there, probably many like us escaping the heat. The kids actually stayed out of the water and just spent a lot of time playing in the sand, working on sand castles and digging holes. We really enjoyed the cool, misty air and it's always a pleasure to see, hear, and smell the ocean. I've noticed that when I'm by the ocean it just feels like there's nothing else but the present. I'm never thinking about other things except the here and now and enjoying what's around me, which is a nice state of being.

Scott has been working hard, as usual. His last week of military training this year was learning to fight fires, so that was kind of interesting for him. It's always more fun when he gets to do something different. Luckily, he wasn't called up to fight any fires, which they could do now that he's trained. Although I guess we're not out of the woods yet on fire season, especially with this heat! He's been doing a good job with his 11-year-old scouts and they're planning a fun hike for next weekend. Tonight he has all our boys at the library for a Friday night movie. Quiet house! No sounds of the television, Wii, or loud children blasting into my ears! It's strange, but I'll take it.

I have been working extra this week since Karin, the other girl on my transcription account, is on vacation. It wasn't too bad really. It could have been a lot busier. I ordered a canner. It hasn't arrived yet, but I have been eagerly watching my tomatoes every day to see when they will ripen. I'm excited to try canning some tomatoes and maybe try making some salsa or spaghetti sauce to can. It will be my first attempt at that, so it should be interesting. I have a feeling it won't be long until they ripen, since I know they love sunshine. The plants are a determinate variety, which I learned means they all ripen at the same time, perfect for my canning plans. I also really want to get out and pick some peaches. I just started seeing signs for them and I so loved the peaches I canned last year that I really have to do that again for sure. Mostly I'm just trying to survive our little heat spell. We spent some time at the lovely air conditioned library today, which was great. Noah loves it there between reading stories, doing puzzles, coloring, and playing with the toys. We happened upon an activity there playing Wii games on a big screen, which Sammy did. Gabe and Josh were at the swimming pool cooling off there. I'm enjoying my book "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive," part of the Ladies Detective Agency series. I haven't read one of that series for a long time, so it's fun visiting those characters again.

Gabe had a successful week of scout camp last week. He enjoyed it and got some things accomplished. He seems to have a new motivation for scouts, which is exciting. He did some rock climbing and has been showing me all the cool knots he learned for that. He takes on funny projects around the house. He loves our new ladder, so he used that to clean my really high windows inside and out. He has also done some more painting, but not as much as I'd like because he gets sidetracked into other things. For example, this morning he decided he needed to know all about how radio frequencies worked so he studied up on that in the encyclopedia and online.

Josh is back into football season, sweating it out and getting in shape. He and Sammy decided to sleep on the trampoline last night since their room was too hot and the poor kid got completely devoured by mosquitoes. Bug spray for that kid from now on! He must have his mom's blood. Sammy must have his dad's blood, which for whatever reason the mosquitoes don't like. No fair! I've been giving him piano lessons, basically just following the lesson that Sammy gets. It gives me some structure to follow to make teaching easier for me and I save the cost of a lesson. He has been doing great with that and seems to really enjoy it.

Speaking of piano, Sammy is doing well with his piano lessons too. He complains sometimes about practicing, but once he starts he enjoys it and usually goes back and plays old songs and messes around making stuff up, so I think he just likes to pretend he doesn't want to practice, because he really seems to like it. Or probably he just doesn't want to be pulled away from whatever he's doing, but once he starts playing he's fine. Sammy also plays with his friends a lot. Pretty much every day he either goes to a friend's house or has a friend over here.

Noah's favorite things are watching his shows, especially Blue's Clues, and playing games on the computer. He learned to use the computer mouse this summer, and oh boy! Now the sharing of the computer between everyone in the family has gotten exponentially harder. As soon as the mouse thing clicked for him, a whole new world opened up and he doesn't like to give it up easily. Of course there is a dad and other brothers that need turns and a mom that needs to work or have her turn, so it can all be very hard for an almost 3-year-old. He also doesn't go very far without a notebook under his arm and he's constantly drawing. I try to keep the writing utensils under control and away from him, which works okay until I feel bad that he just wants to draw in his notebook. Of course the drawing has a way of migrating other places besides the notebook. Yep, still working on that problem!

Well, that's what we're up to these days. It's pretty normal, mundane stuff, but I know that when I look back later I'll want to remember the day-to-day kind of things as well as the special events and occasions.

Basically, it's a little gadget you plug into your GBA or DS (or, in my case, I like to use my GBA SP) with a Compact Flash card and what it can do is amazing.  You simply buy a USB Compact Flash Reader, upload all sort of media to it (some has to be converted which is fairly easy), and then play it on your GBA SP or whatever gaming device you're using.  It's really nifty...I use it to watch movies, listen to music, read e-books (in notebook format...you can find them free all over the internet), and best of all...it has a NES Emulator.  What more could you ask for...?  You should really check it out...it's definitely worth the cash.

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On another note, I was surfing the Internet today and came across some Penny Arcade comics I love.  Let me share with you and expand your mind.

Let me just say that I have felt this extreme hate before...and, unfortunately, you cannot hate a person to death.  Damn it!

The reason I love Penny Arcade (other than my general love for comics and webcomics) is their unending sarcasm...I mean, where do they get this stuff?  I love Tycho's hatred which comes from nowhere and, in the end, causes Gabe to well up with tears.  If you love this comic, then check out this...it's a nice voice over to match the words of the comic.  Enjoy!

The reason I chose to post this was because the Lynda.com tutorial is the most thorough and informative tutorial I could find for Ruby On Rails, and it would be a shame for someone to give up on it due to minor discrepancies.

The main issue was the new syntax for scaffolding. On the Lynda.com tutorial, they suggested you develop your database using MySQL through terminal, then creating a controller called 'Album', and then inserting the command:

scaffold :album

into an 'Admin' controller in order to build a scaffold for the already existing database.

Forcing MySQL

In the newer version of rails, not only is the scaffold command not recognized in the controller, but the default database is SQLite instead of MySQL. To solve the first of these problems, we need to create our rails project and specify MySQL specifically as follows:

$ rails -d mysql music_library

This project will contain the .yml file matching that in the Lynda.com tutorial. It will connect your project to the mysql database called music_library_development as a default for Ruby on Rails.

Generating Scaffold

The next problem, building scaffolding for an Albums table, is a little more complicated. The tutorial has you build your table fist in mysql using terminal. After the table is built, the scaffold should also be built using terminal. The scaffold can be built using as many or as few of the fields from the Albums table as we wish. The command to build a scaffold that connects to the already built table, Albums, should look something like this:

/music_library$ script/generate scaffold Album title:string artist:string date_time:datetime

As far as I can tell, there is no way to build scaffold around a table without using that table name as the default for all your files. In the tutorial the scaffold is built from the controller 'Admin', I do not think this is possible in Rails 2.1.

Things that should be noted when generating your scaffold in rails 2.1 are as follows:

start_form_tag Deprecated

Later in the tutorial, the following is called for:

<%= start_form_tag(...) %>
...
<%= end_form_tag %>

The 'start_form_tag' command has been deprecated in newer versions of rails. Instead, I found that the following syntax gives me no errors:

<% form_tag(...) do %>
...
<% end %>

Another format for setting up a form would look something like this:

<% form_for(@customer, :url => 'save_order') do |f| %>
    <%= f.error_messages %>

    <%= f.label :label_for_field %>
   <%= f.text_field :attribute_of_customer %>

    <%= f.submit "Place Order" %>
<% end %>

Where @customer is the object that you want to create the form for, and 'save_order' is the action you want to take after submit button is pressed.

Locating 'artists/list' In Your Browser

Later in the tutorial, they have you to generate scaffold from the terminal. The directions stated above should be used. After the scaffold is generated, they direct you to:

http://localhost:3000/artists/list

This will not work in rails 2.1. Instead, you should omit the '/list' and simply direct your browser to:

http://localhost:3000/artists

_form Deprecated

The _form file that they tell you to open and edit is not generated in Rails 2.1. Instead we need to make the edits in the edits.html.erb file. The section we want to edit will look something like this:

<%= f.label :artist_old %>

<%= f.text_field :artist_old %>

The edits should parallel the tutorial from here, but if you have issues please leave a comment and I will explain how I did it. It should be noted that when you write the code for the select box, the text should NOT be written with the 'f.' preceding it. Just like in the tutorial, your code should look like this:

Removing The Features Field

Because rails 2.1 does not create a '_form' file by default, when you remove a field from a table that has previously been scaffolded, you must remove all references to that method. Instead of simply removing the reference from _form.rhtml, you must remove reference from all of the following:

Comments and corrections are appreciated.

When they arrived we visited for a bit and the kids got some of their energy out (but by no means all!) jumping on the trampoline.

Next we went to a local farm to do some berry picking, which was a first for their family. They all seemed to enjoy it and we picked lots of yummy raspberries, blueberries, and different varieties of blackberries. This first picture is Noah drawing in the dirt with a stick. He can draw in the dirt all he likes. Just not on my walls!!!!

After berry picking we had to introduce them to one of the great scenic areas of the state, where we have taken all our visitors so far, the Columbia River Gorge. We picked up some food for a picnic and ate near Latourelle Falls. Then we took a good hike through the beautiful forest with some nice views of the waterfall. The kids all did a great job hiking, even Noah. It was great.

We stopped at Vista House on the way back and enjoyed the beautiful view of the sun setting over the Columbia River. The kids were all so excited to be with their cousins. Noah rode in our car sitting next to Chris on the way there and Vanessa on the way home and he was so excited to have their undivided attention. He jabbered away and sang and laughed and had the time of his life. Even though he was exhausted and it took an hour to get home, he didn't even fall asleep because he was so excited and happy. From what I hear, Josh and Sammy were very cute and entertaining in the other car as well. Gabe rode with us on the way there and really enjoyed talking with Chris about scouting and math and all sorts of fun things. Chris earned his Eagle Scout award and they talked about that, which makes me happy because I'm sure that's inspiring to Gabe. We sure love that family and we are so excited to have them here with us!

He's highly motivated, pretty darn careful, and almost completely independent of needing help.  And I was pretty impressed with how methodically he taped off the floor.  Much better than his mom's method of throwing down some newspapers and calling it good.  Of course I'll still be helping and doing a lot of the work, but it sure is nice to have some backup!