Update
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wii won.
Read more...
Tae Kwon Do
Monday, December 15, 2008
When soccer finished we immediately started looking for another activity for Brendan because everyone seems so much happier when he has something to keep him busy. Luckily, his school had a Tae Kwon Do class for a few weeks that seemed to channel some of his energy.
At the end, they put on a show and had an official "Board Breaking" ceremony. If you are not a grandma or grandpa, you may not be interested...but we thought his little performance was quite cute. Especially as he tries to keep up with the other kids.
Let's just say he is quite pleased with his performance...
Oh, and we signed him up!
A Driveway with a View
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Who says Oregon winters are dreary and gray?
"Santa is all I can think about!"
Today Brendan said to me, "Mom, when it's Christmas like this, Santa is just all I can think about."
He left, and then after an usually quiet fifteen minutes, he came back and said, "Mom, I'm sorry to tell you that as I was counting the Christmas presents, my biggest present ripped open. All I could see was some black, so I don't really know what it is. I repaired it with some orange paper."
Now didn't he do a nice repair job?
Other Christmas comments by Brendan:
"Santa doesn't really go down each chimney. He just flies over each chimney and drops the presents down. He has to hurry because there are so many houses."
"Santa has a pocket with every garage door opener in the world in it. That's how he really gets in."
"Santa doesn't get to sleep. He just has to keep delivering presents to all the houses."
"Santa is already delivering presents. It takes him so so long because there are so many houses. So he has to start now."
Way Behind
I hope our blog readers (both of you) aren't feeling neglected at our lack of posts. This blog is not the only thing that we are behind on. Although we did get our Christmas tree, half of our Halloween decorations are still up. And this will probably be the first year of our marriage that we won't be sending out Christmas cards. Apologies to all. We promise to make them extra-glittery next year.
But we just might get a couple of new blog posts up soon. We certainly have plenty to blog about. Just don't hold your breath waiting for the new posts!
"The Worst Mom"? "Dumb"? Ouch!!
Monday, November 10, 2008
On the way home from grocery shopping on Saturday, Natalie casually mentioned that the kids in her class think that I am "the worst mom" because I don't make very good lunches since I don't put many treats in her lunch box.
Well, I believe that fruit snacks are equivalent to gummy bears, that goldfish crackers are essentially cardboard, and I actually follow our pediatrician's and dentist's advice to cut out most juice, especially the juice box-type drinks. So if that makes me "the worst mom" then I guess I am, in fact, the worst mom. But, ouch, that hurts my feelings! I don't want to be the worst mom. I don't want the kids at school to think Natalie has a witch for a mother. This is not a fun feeling.
I then asked Natalie how many kids' moms write notes to them on their napkins that are packed with their lunch? She could only think of one other child in her class. So I felt happy that at least she knows she's loved when she gets her napkin note from mom every day at lunch.
Now this morning as I was packing her lunch, she mentioned that the kids in school think that I am "D-U-M-B" (yes, she spelled it out for me) because of the things that I write on her napkins. Ouch again! I do write rather silly things on her napkins, like "Boom Shaka-Laka" or "10 days til Halloween" or "Thanks for making your bed so nicely this morning". I can picture the kids sitting down at their lunch table and someone saying, "So, Natalie, what did your mom write today?" in a mocking voice and everyone laughing. Again, not a fun feeling.
I expected peer pressure to come someday on clothes, music, going to sleepovers, etc., but SACK LUNCHES? I must confess, that every once in a while, I DO buy fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, and red-colored sugar water mislabeled as "juice", mainly because I recognize that a sandwich and fruits and veggies can get boring day after day. But I guess an occasional treat is not enough for my daughter to escape ridicule.
Should I just ignore the pressure and take satisfaction in knowing that she is eating healthy? Or should lunches from our house become a pre-packaged party of sugar and cardboard?
Signed,
Lisa (aka "the Worst mom")
Lightning Brendan
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Brendan played on the Purple Dragons soccer team. The kid is fast if you just can keep him moving in the right direction.
Natalie Soccer
Natalie played on the Purple Panthers team this year with a crew of her friends and did great. \
Check out the war paint she put on to keep the sun out of their eyes...wait...this is Portland in October...there is no sun in your eyes!
(Hint: You can click on the picture for a larger image)
Halloween
Two pioneer girls, one pumpkin, and one Boba Fett with a laser gun (that makes an awful noise). The funniest event of the evening was seeing this 8 year old pioneer girl run around with a laser gun...
Lisa made the pioneer costumes, don't they look great!
And AJ had a great time.
Carving the Pumpkins
We originally planned to go the pumpkin patch, but after unending weeks of soccer, we were exhausted. On the way out of the last soccer party we saw a pile of pumpkins at a grocery store and offered root beer floats and one pumpkin each if we could just pick one out and go home...boy I'm sure glad the kids like root beer.
As can see, the kids designed them and then we helped cut them out. For the first time, Natalie scooped everything out by herself.
Summer Smiles
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
It's been appearing randomly for a couple of weeks, but today we finally captured it--Summer's smile!
"Should I smile for Mom?"
"I guess maybe just a little smile."
"Okay, you can have a big smile."
"Here it is!"
"Now give me back my fingers to suck on!"
Move over applesauce, Amanda's got a new favorite food
When she gets hungry, she knows just what to do--head straight for the freezer for some Tillamook!
Visualization of Hood to Coast Results
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Remember, I'm an absolute data geek...so please have patience with me.
When I ran Hood to Coast with the Team "Runs in the Family", we placed 201st in the Mixed Masters group. So I grabbed the race results and plugged them into my new favorite website - Many Eyes. The site takes your data and plugs it into different visual graphics. Just think of user friendly Excel that helps you visualize results and interact with the graph.
So how did our finish time compare to other teams?
The professional teams are to the far left. My team finished 201st.
How fast were the teams from the different cities?
Each color represents a city. The larger the circle, the slower the time. If you mouse over the circle you can see the team name and place they finished.
And lastly, the distribution of where we finished.
Thanks for listening...I got the "That's nice dear" look from Lisa when I showed her...
I promise to not show any more math or running posts for a long time...
Friends Come to Visit
We had some fun when some friends from California came to visit this summer.
In mid-July, our good friend and former across-the-street neighbor Melodi came to visit. She and her two children, Nehemiah and Adie were visiting her mom in Eugene, so they came up for dinner one Sunday afternoon. We met Melodi's mom and were able to catch up on what has happened in the year since we both moved from Lorelei Ave. The kids got to play Legos with Nehemiah (just like old times) and we were able to meet Adie for the first time. The only thing missing was Ken, who hadn't arrived in Oregon yet. 
Then last week, Tom and Mindy and their three girls from good old Lakewood 3rd Ward came by. They were driving through Portland on their way to a family reunion on the coast. They stopped by to say hi. We ate pizza and the kids kept busy on the trampoline. I had wondered if the kids would be shy around each other, but after about 10 seconds of shyness, it was like they had all seen each other yesterday. Good times! 
So if anyone out there is making travel plans, please note that if you come to the northwest, you can get a free dinner at our house! We love visitors!
Hood to Coast
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What Hood to Coast is NOT:
-A trail some tree hugger treks each year
-A rap song about the homeboy Richards clan (wouldn't even know where to start)
-Wearing a hoodie while you snorkle...
-The latest Oregon Rain gear (environmentally friendly of course)
-Something I want to do again in the next 350 days
What is it really?
A 197 mile relay race from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast. Twelve people to a team and over 1000 teams participating. Imagine traffic jams, no sleep, sweaty runners, and way to many crazy people torturing themselves to finish the race.
But we had a blast....
Heddie, my sister, came up and showed us how the pros do it. At one point I even heard someone say, "Dang she's fast! She's even faster than when she started!"
Above you can see the cheering squad at the end of our first run. The whole family made it!
Below is our team. I'll tell you, by the end of this race I knew everyone very well...
What a great time...if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend it.
Size
Friday, August 1, 2008
Amanda still seems like such a baby to us, but the difference in size amazes us. 
Amy Yoder Begley - Olympian
Today we drove by a local shopping center and saw a big crowd of people all waiting in line to meet and get their picture with Amy Yoder Begley. She is running the 5000 meters (10k) at the Olympics in a few weeks. She was super nice and signed pictures for the kids. She runs about 70 miles a week and cross trains a ton. Even more impressive...her mile pace is about 6 minutes. Geez I feel like a slug.
Go Amy!!!
Does anyone else have their kids pumped up about the Olympics?
A Great Help
Grandma came to visit and was able to hold the baby and help out on a million other things.
Thanks Grandma!
Summer Ann Richards
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Lisa and I finally got together for some time without the kids, but we were happily interrupted at 4:09 when Summer decided to visit.
The facts...
-She checked in at 9 lbs. 5 ounces. The largest of our four.
-She is 21 inches long which is the same length as Brendan, but his feet were much bigger.
-She sleeps a lot. Natalie, Brendan, and AJ were a bit noisy (or rather, they kept us up all night).
-Lisa is doing very well and will come home Monday morning. She was a true champ.
-Ezra barely made it.
Check back later for a few pictures.
What's Happening this Summer?
Monday, July 21, 2008
Here is a quick summary of our summer thanks to Wordle.net
(Click the image to enlarge)
More from the Backyard
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Ezra has come up with some great ideas to keep the kids busy this summer. We call Tuesdays our "Creative Projects" day. On these days, Ezra sets up supplies and instructions with a few starter ideas. Then we turn them loose in the backyard.
Our first project back in June was pinatas. They had balloons, newspaper strips, and paper-mache paste. They needed some help to get doing, but seemed to enjoy the gooey mess. They finished the paper-mache part over three or four days, but they don't seem motivated to decorate the pinatas or break them (even though we already bought some candy to fill them). I think they just don't want to destroy their hard work.
The next project was "Fort Richards". They got old sheets, clothespins, blank t-shirts, markers, and anything they could scrounge out of our recycling bins. We thought that once they had their fort set up, they would happily play in it. It turns out that for them, all of the fun was in the building and they weren't quite sure what to do with it once it was built.
Presenting . . . "Fort Richards":
Soldiers guarding their fort:
Check out their t-shirts. You can tell from Brendan's upside-down name that they were colored while the soldiers were wearing them.
What's happening in our backyard . . .
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Our backyard is having a busy summer. It will take a few posts to get it all in. Let's start with our great up-close "nature experience".
In May, a robin started building a nest in the rafters on our covered deck. It was abandoned shortly after and the beginnings of the nest fell down. Then a couple of weeks later, the robin (or possibly another robin--they all look alike, you know!) returned, and she was serious this time. The nest was built in just a couple of days. Then two robins started hanging around. When they were gone, we checked the nest a few times to see if there were any eggs. We never saw any eggs in the nest. Now we know that we weren't looking deep enough into the nest. Then about two weeks later, the robin started flying back and forth with worms. We watched carefully and realized there were little tiny beaks pointing skyward to receive the worms. The eggs had been laid, kept warm, and hatched ten feet from our kitchen table and we were clueless!
After only a couple of days, the baby birds had grown enough to reach their necks up and be seen. We counted four. The kids really got into watching the nest. Even Amanda, sitting in her high chair would give a little yell when she saw the mother bird arriving at the nest.
It was amazing to watch the mother robin go back and forth and back and forth with worms ALL DAY LONG. I tried to think of a fitting analogy between bird mothers and human mothers. Here's what I came up with: robin mothers and human mothers stay really busy trying to feed their families. Observant, deep, and profound, I know. I should become a writer, don't you think? Ha!
Once we saw the mother come back with a frog (maybe an inch and a half long). The baby birds fought over it. We're still not sure how the winner choked it down.
Here they are, approximately two weeks after hatching. They left the nest within the next 48 hours.
We read on Wikipedia that only 25% of baby robins survive the first year. The day our robins left the nest, we found one of them dead near our fence. We hope that the three remaining robins fare a little better and maybe next spring one will come back to build their own nest in the same spot.
Shoezy Suzy (aka Amanda)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Watch out Imelda Marcos--Amanda has a shoe infatuation! When she isn't wearing her own little pair of summer sandals, she's trying someone else's shoes on for size.
Daddy's shoes are a little hard to balance in:
Mommy's flip flops are way too big:
Natalie's sandals are smaller than Mom's, but are still tricky to stand up and walk in:
Brendan's fit a little better, she can actually walk around the house:
Amanda keeps us smiling! 
Competition in the Marriage
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
So we picked up a new game a few weeks ago and it has become quite a competition between the two of us. I won the first 3 games and Lisa thought about nothing except playing again. Now she has absolutely demoralized me twice in a row. Did anyone out there have a clue that Lisa has such a competitive steak? She doesn’t just win... she takes your shirt off and throws it out the door!
Lisa, I challenge you to a rematch to tie the score (3-3)!
BTW, our favorite game with the kids right now is Pictionary Junior. Who knew Brendan could draw like a little Picasso! He definitely has his mother’s competitive streak.
Bookworms? Ya think??
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
It's a picture perfect summer evening, and this is how our kids are making the most of the gorgeous weather:
At the Races
Ezra wasn't the only one to race last Saturday. The kids and I (Lisa) signed up for a 1K Hike 'n Bike. The idea was that we could cover the short course together with me pushing Amanda in the stroller. Yes, I am eight months pregnant, but one kilometer is practically NOTHING!
Here we are just after checking in. We still have fifteen minutes before our race starts.
Natalie and Brendan were bored, so they started running up and down the steps. Good warm up for their race muscles. Plus, it was chilly outside. 
Here we are lined up at the starting line. When the kids heard "GO," they took off (Natalie running and Brendan on his bike) faster than I have ever seen either of them move. So much for staying together. Running is not option for someone in my condition. I didn't see the kids again until the finish line, where they had already finished their snacks and drink and had gotten tired of waiting for me.
And by the way, that race was at least two kilometers, probably more like 2.5. Even in my current state, I can walk a mile in twenty minutes. I was walking my very fastest and it took me thirty-five minutes to finish. That's a mean trick for Parks & Rec to play on a pregnant lady. All in all, a great first "race" experience for the kids. As for me, I should have just waited for them at the finish line and saved my energy.
After our race, we went to go meet Ezra at the half marathon.
My champion runners:
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