John was still mostly asleep when I went in to get him this morning. Poor Guy. He looked at me sleepily and said "Daddy, I want to sleep." Well, one more day at Sue's house, and then the holiday and he can sleep in as long as he wants. Grandpa and Grandma and Gramma Oma Tick-Tock will arrive tomorrow around supper time and we will feast!

I'm the only here in my group at work today! Wheee!

A long, slow congested drive into work this morning. Roads were good for the most part. Argh.

Games Magazine is doing another Calculatrivia contest. It's a contest where there is a huge equation, and you have to figure out all the variables (I think there are 42 or so) based on clues. The clues range all over the place in terms of what you have to figure out. For instance: Smallest integer, greater than 3, that leaves a remainder of 3 or less when divided by any integer from 1 to 16. Or, here's another one: Plate number of a sheet of US 2 cent stamps issued in 1917 that erroneously contained some 5 cent stamps. And some clues are *way* more complicated than that. But, it's fun to do. Paul had me help with some clues on the first one of these contests way back around 1992 or so. The first prize is $1500, and then 10 T-shirts.

Well, don't think the storm was quite the monster that they predicted, at least around here anyway. We probably only got4 or 5 inches of snow at the house. The roads are slick in spots, but not terrible. Still, driving was a bit slow in to work.

I blew out the driveway last night in the blustery wind. Some more has filled in since, so might have to swipe the shovel across the driveway once more.

It's neat at night to look out the windows to the south and see the glow of the city lighting up the clouds. It feels like we're living on the edge of a big something, but we're tucked away in our dark little neighborhood.

Well, I ain't raking any leaves today. The winds started to pick up yesterday afternoon, the flakes started to fall, and by evening a storm was brewing. Today the snow is still falling, winds are brisk. Probably 4 inches on the ground or so. Could get another 1 to 3 by tomorrow.

When we got home from church, John wanted to play out in the snow, so I took both kids outside. OK, quiz time. Using your knowledge of boys and girls, which one do you think wanted to come in first, and which one wanted to stay out longer and play in the snow and ride the trike into snow piles and eat snow?

When I got Hanna from the nursery, both John and Hanna must have gone somewhere to practice for their Christmas program, because the worker said that John had come over to Hanna and held her hand and led her around, etc... Awww, he's a good big brother!

Went to see a matinee yesterday, saw Runaway Jury. It was OK. It kept you going right up to the end, although I didn't like the reasons that were behind what was going on. And a lot of Movie Things happened that just didn't seem plausible, but it was a fun thriller type movie.

Looks like the Vikes won. But only because they played a team even more worthless than the Vikes are.

I scooped up another bag of leaves, one last cleanup around the the front yard and house. Still reports of up to a foot of snow by Monday. Ugh.

A few times since getting her shots on Thursday, Hanna has walked like her legs were bothering her, kinda walking like a bow-legged cowboy. She's been a little bit out of sorts, too. Rhonda has given her Motrin a couple times, and that has seemed to help.

Might go see a matinee today.

Well, this may be it. The last of the tolerable weather before winter hits for good. A sizeable storm is forecast for the weekend, turning heavy by Sunday night. Sniff. I should probably rake up what I can in the front yard tonight. There are a lot of leaves there. The back isn't too bad.

I had a deacons meeting last night, didn't get home till after 10:30. Rhonda said that once Hanna was sitting at the table in John's chair having a snack, John had to go potty and got a little messy so she took him upstairs to clean up, and when she came back down Hanna was standing up on the table, had her sippy cup in sort of the middle of the table, and was marching around sort of singing! And was coming a bit close to the edge. Eek! That little munchkin.

John had a shot today, and got a lollipop. I talked to him on the phone he made sure to tell me about that! He said something about getting sick, and Rhonda said she had told him the shot was so he wouldn't get sick.

Usually when John has to go potty, wherever he is he'll drop his pants around his ankles, tuck his shirt up under his chin and hold it there (to get it out of the way) and then he'll shuffle like that over to the chair. Hasn't quite figured out that it would much easier to just walk over to the chair and then do that! Ha.

Last night while Rhonda was getting supper ready, I was on the couch reading a book with Hanna, and I saw John go over to the chair (which we have by the front door), turn around and drop his pants, then sort of backed up to the chair while starting to sit down...and he missed, came up a bit short. Fell on the floor on his bum. Ha. Shouldn't laugh I suppose, but it was cute.

I hit a deer on the way home from work last night. Eek! That was a little unnerving. Luckily there didn't seem to be any damage to the car. It was on Radisson where the road curves around by the airport. I was doing between 40 and 50 mph. All of a sudden this shape materialized in my headlights, barely had time to get the brakes and WHUMP. So, I don't know what happened to the deer, and when I got home I didn't notice any big dents.

Hanna is not going to have a good day. She has a doctor appt, and is scheduled to get 4 shots. She screams at getting one shot, 4 is not going to sit well with her. Poor girl.

Sue wrote on her note that for snacks yesterday they had mandarin oranges, and John said "I'm an orange Cookie Monster!"

We have this read-along cassette tape of The Fox and the Hound from Disney, and John really likes listening to it. Hanna is not quite ready to sit through something like that. And in car, we got this cassette from the library of the book MopTop, and John wants to listen to that over and over.

We got the tree put up last night. (It's an artifical one.) The kids had fun bringing over the branches one at a time. At least for awhile, then they tired of that game.

I played Hide the Metronome with them last night. Hanna just had a ball running to the kitchen with John while I hid it. They would lay on the floor in the kitchen till I said they could come out, and Hanna loved running back out with John. Never mind she didn't really look too hard. John always found it. Once Hanna was wandering around when I hid it, and John looked around for her before running out to the kitchen. He said "Where's Hanna?" They have fun playing together.

John was watching the Cookie Monster video we got from the library. He enjoys it, and then always goes around doing "umm-numm-numm-rnnn-numm" like Cookie Monster does. And then during supper (we had pizza) he was saying "I'm the pizza Cookie Monster! umm-numm-numm", and also "I'm the vitamin Cookie Monster! umm-numm-numm" And driving to Sue's house this morning he said "I'm the car Cookie Monster!"

At breakfast this morning Hanna had her spoon between her teeth like some pirate.

Man vs. Machine has ended. Game 4 has ended in a draw! Kasparov had the Black pieces in this one. Looked like this one started out in the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

A technically proficient game, Kasparov played smart, didn't blunder and give the computer any chances, and things settled into a pattern that ended in the inevitable draw.

Game 3 was funny, as it showed where computers can still fall short against grandmasters. Computers don't really "play" chess, they are just very good at simulating playing chess. They search ahead through many many possible combinations of moves, calculate "scores" for each position, and determine moves on best scores. The computer cannot match a human grandmaster's ability to do long range planning based on experience, at seeing the patterns develop.

Game 3 was a classic computer game. Kasparov made moves specifically because he was playing a computer, that he probably wouldn't have made against a human. Also, Kasparov worked to get into a position on the board that would confound the computer. Kasparov, as White, build a wall of pawns, and didn't leave a lot of room for pieces to maneuver, and basically did want he wanted behind that wall on the Queen side, building up an attack that led to the crushing conclusion. The computer didn't really pick up on this, and just kinda messed around, not finding a strategy. It thought things were fairly close right up until Kasparov launched the final attack.

Yet, as Games 1 and 2 showed, the computer can also play some very powerful chess, because it doesn't make mistakes.

Game 4 was the same way. Nothing that seemed too brilliant, just competent chess that led to the draw.

So, it ends at 2 points apiece, two draws and a win for each side.

Enjoying some September-like weather here. Temps in the 50s, could even get to 60 at some point this week. However, there are ominous warnings that a big snowstorm might blow in on Sunday.

Last night John was playing with a little farm puzzle we have, one of the pieces is a cow, and Rhonda asked John "what do we get from cows?" And John says..."cow poop". Huh? Wha...? Where in the world did he get that ?!? Rhonda was trying to get him to say milk! She wonders if he maybe remembers that from the trip to the farm over Labor Day, but he's never said that before, or made a big deal of it. Ha. Kids.

I'd almost say he is potty trained now! In only a week or two! He'll usually go to the chair all by himself without prompting when he has to go. Might be awhile though before we could trust him without a diaper at night. I suppose soon we could switch his bed to the toddler bed, and keep a chair in his room so he could go himself at night.

Last night for snacks, among other things, I gave Hanna some grapes. She really likes them, and kept asking for more by pointing and saying "baipes!"

The final Game (game 4) of Man vs. Machine is this afternoon. Updates to follow...

It's raining here this morning. Wasn't raining at home, but on the drive in ran into rain just south of Blaine.

Last night when I was getting John into bed, he gave me a hug and said "you're a good friend." Awwww. Wonder if he got that from his sunday school class. The lessons are all about friends (David and Jonathan, etc...) and his papers are about a girl named Brenda and her friends.

John gave me another big hug when I dropped him off at Sue's, but he got down on his own this time. Didn't have to peel him away.

Both John and Hanna have sniffles and runny noses.

Man vs. Machine Game 3 is over! Kasparov had the white pieces and won handily. The computer didn't put up much of a fight this time.

Speaking of not putting up a fight. The Vikes are down 14-3 at the half. Turnovers, penalties, blech. Dante made two turnovers that led directly to the two Oakland touchdowns. Yechh.

Was at church early today, as had to play for orchestra at both services.

After lunch, I saw Hanna go running by and she was saying "Daddy! Mommy" That's the first time I've heard her say those words together! usually it's Daddnnn or something like that.

Hanna likes to say "Yeecchh!", and then say, I think, Tigger. (Or it sounds like Tiggnnn or Dadnnn) It's from one of our Pooh cds, and she wants me to say the rest of it, like Tiggers don't like honey, or Tiggers don't like climbing trees, etc...

Kids are down for their nap. John didn't sleep yesterday, hopefully he will today. He was the sniffles...

An overcast, slightly misty day here, a bit cool.

Had a fun time last night at dinner with the people we met. The kids were fantastic, well-behaved. John even said he had to go potty so we went to the restroom. He's really been doing good.

On the way home John was playing with his Franky train, and all of a sudden Hanna started crying a bit. I said what's wrong Hanna, and John said "Franky was naughty." Ha. He must have been driving the train on her or something.

This morning we went over the Anoka County License office, which is just down 65 by 109th, and we submitted passport applications for John and Hanna. John wasn't too keen on just sitting quietly, so I took the kids outside to bounce around while Rhonda did the paperwork.

Trying to decide if I really feel like cleaning leaves out of the gutter...

Another weekend ahead. We've been invited to dinner tonight at Outback by a guy I work with. They are looking into adopting from Russia with the same agency we did, and wanted to talk about our experiences and meet our kids.

John gave me a big hug when I dropped him off at Sue's house. He's not terribly distressed when I leave, but he holds on tight and Sue has to kinda pry him away. Don't know if he is just kinda playing or what.

It's always chilly in this room where I am at work. So I brought in a space heater to set at my feet. Mmm, warmth.

A writer group meeting tomorrow night. Gack, I just haven't got much done on Chapter 3. It's hard to sit down to work when I'm ready for bed at 9:30 every night.

Game 2 is over, and Kasparov resigned on move 39! The match stands at 1.5 - 0.5, in favor of the machine!

This was quite a game. Kasparov had black, it started out as the classic Ruy Lopez, but kinda morphed into a King's Indian, with White pushing pawns and attacking up its Queen side, and Black pushing pawns and attacking up its King side.

It was a swirling melee, but in the confusion, facing time pressure, Kasparov blundered on move 32 with Rg7. Things fell apart there, with White seizing the opening and charging ahead.

Black was in a fairly decent position before that, mounting a good attack on the King side. But the computer played well through all the possibilities.

In his previous matches against the computers, Kasparov has had trouble with black and running into time pressure. He's made time-induced blunders before with black.

Next game is Sunday. Kasparov will have white.

Well, we had quite the snowstorm yesterday. Very strong winds, a lot of snow coming down. But, it all melted almost immediately. Ground must be warm enough yet, and temps did get above freezing.

Hanna will watch the tv for longer periods now, like when we watch some of the Baby Einstein videos... she kinda stands there like a zombie sometimes...

Man vs. Machine this afternoon, Game 2! Updates to come...

I have a special deacons meeting tonight to look at bylaws changes...

The other day, Hanna was carrying around one of her dolls. She was feeding it, and petting it "nicely" like we tell her to do with Ellie. I told her good girl, you're taking good care of your baby! No sooner had I said that when she just flung the doll across the room. Mmm, maybe she's not ready yet for a baby of her own.

John is really doing well with his pt. An accident now and then, but often he'll go on his own without prompting. Couple times now he won't go during his nap, and when he gets up he'll go a lot. This morning, he didn't have much in his diaper at all, and went a whole lot on the chair.

He whimpered a bit when I dropped him off at Sue's house, wanted me to keep holding him and not go. He's got a bit of a sniffle too, like Hanna.

Hanna likes to have me sit on the couch with her and read books. She'll often grab a book, come over and grab my hand and lead me over to the couch. Then, she'll slap the couch with her hand and say "sit!"

Hanna likes to jump on the box, and have me hold her hands while she jumps off. It's a ways up in the air, but she has no fear, just *poing* like a spring, she leaps off.

The LeapPad had been having some troubles with the pen, sometimes it wouldn't do anything when you touched the pad. I opened it up and cleaned and reset it in the socket, and has worked fine since. But when it was acting up, I said once to John it's acting kinda funny. And after that, whenever it did that, John would say "it's kinda funny!"

It's Man vs. Machine once again! Starting today, Kasparov is once again playing the computer, this time matched up against X3DFritz.

Game 1 just finished in a draw. Kasparov had the white pieces. It has an exciting game, lots of action and possibilities of danger on both sides.

The next game is on Thursday! Watch it live online! (And, I think this game was on ESPN2!)

A nice, sunny day here. Temps could hit 50. A brief reprieve before we spiral back down into winter's death grip.

John cried a bit when we left today. He's done that a bit lately, where he doesn't want us to leave.

I had a mission board meeting last night. Was quite tired by the time I got home, got John into bed, and then turned out the lights about 10.

The Twins have some decisions to make about who they want to keep for next year. There are a number of free agents, or people in last years of contracts making big money, etc... and they can't spend a whole lot more than they are, so the team will probably look a bit different next year.

*sniff sniff* eeww, what's that smell? Oh, it's just the stinky Vikings. eek. Well, this is the defense I thought they had all along. The big surprise to me is that they even managed to win their first six games. Oh well. It'll be fun to watch the sniping in the media around here.

Today at Sue's house we're going to try John in the pullups. Sue will have a chair out and will help remind him, so we'll see how it goes. He did real good over the weekend. Now just gotta make it a habit. Making it all the way through the night might be a ways off yet.

Last night the kids were jumping on the box in the living room while I held their hands. Hanna was having fun, and even though she didn't get too wild it must have jostled her enough to upset her stomach. We had just had our snack. I put her down, and was concentrating on John, when next I looked Hanna was at the coffee table, had thrown up, and had already gone out to the kitched to get a towel, came back, and was trying to wipe it up. Ha! She's a clever one.

Enjoyed the play very much last night. Didn't get home though till just before midnight. Hanna woke up crying a couple times just after we got home. Not sure what was bothering her. She's had some sniffles lately, and has seemed a little owly, maybe she's just not feeling well.

Lately when she wants to be picked up, she'll put up her hands and say "hold". That's something new for her!

Last night before we left John was jumping on a big box in the living room, and we were singing Zum Gali Gali and I was making funny sounds, and John was just laughing. And this morning, when we got up, he remembered because he went over to the box and wanted to do it again!

Hanna did good in the nursery again. When I took her in, she got the upside down mouth, but didn't really cry, and she reached for the worker when he asked if she wanted to go look at ducks. That's something I think he did with her last week. She kinda forced herself to cry when I came back and got her.

Hanna is in her crib. She seemed tired. John is still going strong. Maybe his nap habits are changing a bit, that he doesn't need to lay down till a little later now.

Got another tarp full of leaves raked up this morning. With the cold cold weather, a lot of the remaining leaves came down, so hopefully I won't have to rake any more. There are a few left on the trees, but not many. The one out front still has some.

John was breaking up some ice and snow outside while I was raking, and he had fun nibbling on it. While we went to the dump to take the leaves, Rhonda let Hanna ride the trike up and down the street. She went back and forth 3 or 4 times, but then she stopped, put up her hands and said "done".

Last night when I came home from work, John greeted me at the door (sans pants) and he had a drum around his neck and was merrily banging on it. Rhonda had got out their instruments and they were listening to Musikgarten songs. John was just as happy as Larry. He had such a smile on his face as he marched around like the Little Drummer Boy. He'd play and sing some songs he knew.

This morning Rhonda said John was playing with a Halloween toy we have that makes sounds, one of the things it says is "I want some candy", and John heard that and said "I want some candy too". Rhonda said what kind of candy do you want, and John said "brown". Ha.

He's been going in the potty chair. had a couple accidents, one in his pants when we were outside. Sometimes when he goes he'll come over with a smile on his face and say "I did it!"

Just put Hanna down her nap. Hopefully John will be ready soon. I must sit and down and get some done on Chapter 3. I really want to finish it by next Saturday, our next meeting.

The Gophers are currently tied with Wisconsin 34-34. Once again, no defense. They still haven't beaten a team with a winning record. They don't deserve a big bowl game.

John just came over with a ball and took me by the hand and said something like "sit on the horsey". Then he sat on the bottom step, and I figured out he wanted me to sit on the foot rest by the couch, and he threw me the ball, and I threw it back, and we did that a few times.

Tonight Rhonda and I are going to see a play at the Theater in the Round, where we had season tickets for a year. We'll see Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, my favorite playwright.

Paul invited me to go with him again to the St Olaf Choir Christmas Concert. That is Dec 5.

Yesterday Rhonda tried something new with John and his potty training. She put some pullup underwear on him, and said if he went in the potty chair, he could pick out a video to watch. Well, that apparently didn't work too well. He went in his pants. But then, she just took off his pants and diaper, letting him run around bare (with a shirt, and the heat turned up a bit) and that apparently served as a good reminder for him, because he then went in the potty chair by himself several times. Rhonda had brought down the chair and put it by the front door, and several times he went over to and used it on his own. He didn't have any accidents that way.

At bedtime then, he used it one more time, and then I put his diaper on and jammies, got him to bed, and when Rhonda came home from the church, she went into say goodnight, and checked his diaper and he had already gone in his diaper.

But then, he did his job this morning. I brought down the chair and he went right over and used it. (And then said I want to watch Baby Van Gogh!) So, he can do it. Will just have to keep up with this, and hopefully it will start to become habit.

Hanna is watching big brother, and she'll go over there too and try to sit on it. I suppose it's a bit easier to train siblings because they see the example of the older one.

Today there is a mysterious ball of yellow fire in the sky. We are frightened. Perhaps the gods are angry with us. And, and, the sky is this strange blue color. Oh, what does it mean. Isn't the sky supposed to be a dull gray, thick with clouds?

Was rather chilly here this morning. But, by next Tuesday temps could be as warm as 50! Well, may be able to do leaves one last time, then.

Had orchestra practice last night. We'll play Nov 16. I don't like cut time.

Last night played we played a bit of hide the metronome. We start it beeping and then hide it somewhere, often in plain sight. The kids go out to the kitchen, and then come in and look for the metronome by following the beeping sounds. (Hanna comes in, looks around, and says "Beep!") John just loved that game back when we first started doing it with him.

Hanna usually had trouble finding it by herself. Once John hid it himself, he put it under a fire hat, went out to the kitchen and came back in, and ran right by hat! You goof, you put it there yourself!

Well, Hanna figured that out real quick, so she started hiding it under the hat, would go out and come back and she would always come right to the hat and look under it! She had lots of fun doing that.

The drive in wasn't as bad as it could've been. It was slow, and the roads were wet, but at least they weren't icy. Driving home last night wasn't horrible either. I did leave about 4:30, but the roads were only wet, so the pace of traffic was tolerable. There was ice on the driveway this morning though.

Saw several UPS trucks going north on the freeway as I was coming in. I always see lots of trucks coming north in the morning. There is a huge distribution center just a few blocks from where I work, so they come out of there. Then, in the evening, as I'm going home, the trucks are coming back south heading for the barn.

John wanted to go out and play in the snow last night. He said it was "slippery"! He remembered snow from last winter!

We played a bit last night with this Disney LeapPad-like toy, from what must have been around 1990 or so. It has several papery inserts that you put in, and then activate things with touch. I would ask John which one he wanted to do, and he'd say "hmmm, let me see..." Meanwhile, Hanna was busy taking all those papers from me one by one, putting them off to the side, and then giving them back to me. Once she was kinda running around and tripped and fell into my knee. Ouch. She cried for a bit.

Well, the snow and rain has started to fall here. It's coming down pretty good now outside my window at work. Driving in, the flakes didn't start till around I-694. Word is it might be a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, so I'm sure the drive home will be fun fun fun tonight.

Both kids could've slept longer this morning, John especially. When I dropped them off, John gave me a big, tight hug for a long time. He'd never quite done that before. When we got there, John wanted to knock on the door, and since the door is usually opened by one of the girls, we'll usually go in, close the door with John outside and let him knock on it. We'll open the door and say "hi! come in!" etc...

Last night I was sitting on the couch reading some books with Hanna, and she leaned over me, and I don't know if she drooled on me or what, but there was a wet spot on my shirt. Hanna looked at it, said "Daddnnn" then got down and trotted off to the kitchen. I didn't know where she was going, but she came back with a kitchen towel, and kinda rubbed off my arm! She had this concerned look on her face. Ha! Where did she get that?

Sometimes in the morning when I put on her shoes she'll clap and say "yay!" Mmm, doesn't take much to please her!

Rhonda took Hanna and Ellie for a walk last night, and John wanted to go to after we played with Pooh CD, so I took him for a walk around the block. A few times he started running. He can run very well, very coordinated.

The Vikings. Sigh. Well, that's the defense I thought they had all along.

I had to help serve communion at the first service, so we all went to the first service. So, Hanna had to spend that service and sunday school in the nursery, and by all accounts she did very well. She cried when Rhonda came to get her, but the workers said she was happy and played. Joyce, who used to be in our bible study, said she took care of Hanna during the first service, and that she was happy and playful. Joyce said we must read a lot of books to her, because Hanna wanted Joyce to read her books.

For lunch, we made Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. While we were making it, John found an empty pecan clusters tin, and was banging on it like a drum and marching around. He saw me and said "I want to sing rain rain rain came down down down" (which is a Pooh song) so we sang that and marched around while we sang. When John was done, of course Hanna had seen that, so she picked up the drum and starting hitting it and marching around. Never mind that she had never done that before. She'd seen John do that, so that was enough for her to decide hey, I have to do that too!

About time to get them down for their nap. We never did get that snow that was threatened for yesterday. It's still a bit cloudy today, but I doubt it will snow today. I had on a football game in the kitchen while making lunch, a game in Miami, and it was 80 degrees there. It's just not fair.

I raked up another tarp full of leaves this morning. Supposed to rain or snow over the weekend so wanted to get that done. The kids came out for a bit and jumped in the leaves.

Then, we all got in the van. I dropped Rhonda and Hanna off at Cub Foods. John and I took the leaves over and then came back. They had some samples of donuts and milk, and John enjoyed that. Then, we went over to the library to get a new batch. We got the Baby Einstein videotape there and watched it as we had lunch. That one has people speaking in a number of foreign languages, including Russian.

So, got the kids down for their nap about 2. I have some things to read through for my writers meeting tonight.

The kids had fun last night for trick or treats. They liked going around to houses. John liked pushing the doorbells. Then he always tried to go in the house. He figured, hey, that's how it works, isn't it! We push doorbell, they answer, and then we go in. When we got back, Hanna liked helping hand out candy. She got the hang of it real quick. She was putting the candy right in the bags, etc... I opened up our other pumpkin and got out the seeds. This one had more seeds than the other one. Mmm, they were so good, nice and warm right out of the oven.

The Vikes and the Pack play the Sunday night game. Paul will come over and we'll have pizza and nachos.