Monthly Archives: July 2006

A week with Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah

Kelly and Christian are gone to spend the week with their Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah.  The plan is that they will go visit the fish ladder, the fish hatchery, and one of the big dams on the Columbia River … Continue reading

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Working late on a science project

Yesterday was an exciting and eventful day for Lorena, Kelly, and Christian.  They went to camp while the workers continued working on the the house.  They had visitors and talked and emailed with lots of people about ongoing events and … Continue reading

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Kelly’s psychology class interview

Our good friend, Jeannie is taking a psychology class this summer.  She went over to the house yesterday while I was at work to interview Kelly for the class.  I was all set to be horrified with what Kelly would … Continue reading

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W-A-Y-N-E!!

Gimme a W! Gimme an A! Gimme a Y! Gimme an N! Gimme a E! What does that spell??? WAYNE!!!! Who likes Wayne the Mexican raise your hand. If you read this blog and don’t write any comments (ESPECIALLY about … Continue reading

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Untimely death

While I was away in Texas, Lorena and the kids went to Sunday gospel meeting with Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah. They heard a handsome, young (35 years) preacher named Jeremy. They saw him again last week at a potluck … Continue reading

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Socialization in public school

I am currently working on a post about socialization in a series of posts about why we have chosen to homeschool our children. There is a great article titled How the Schools Shortchange Our Boys by Gerry Garibaldi in City … Continue reading

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Drawing with friends

As many of you know, just about every free evening in the summer, Kelly, Chrisitan, and I all sit down at the dining room table, turn on some classical music–usually Beethoven or Chopin–and draw. We have been working our way … Continue reading

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A hot weekend

It was hot and humid all weekend long in Oregon.  That does not often happen here; it can get pretty warm, but usually there is not a lot of humidity.  It felt like we were back in Texas or South … Continue reading

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It is County Fair time

Lorena and the kids are running over to the county fair this afternoon.  This has become somewhat of a tradition for them since we have been in Albany.  It is a very typical county fair for a mostly agricultural part … Continue reading

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What to say about homeschool: Part 2 – The very small class size advantage

Class Size Note: This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive look at this subject matter. Rather, it is a description of why we found homeschool to be a compelling alternative for our children when we considered the … Continue reading

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What to say to people who rail against your newly made decision to homeschool: Part 1

The biggest obstacles we faced when we decided to homeschool our children were doubts sowed by trusted friends and relatives. Never having homeschooled nor read the plethora of scholarly literature on the subject, some still expressed strong opinions about the … Continue reading

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Visitor for the night

Kelly’s friend Skyler came over yesterday and stayed the night.  They had a great time.  Everyone played together really well in the pool and in the clubhouse the neighborhood kids are building under the Biles front porch.  It was a … Continue reading

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The new pot filler

The plumber came this morning and put the new pot filler faucet above the Thermador stove top. I called during the process to find out what was happening. Kelly answered the phone and said she didn’t really know what was … Continue reading

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Back to Oregon

I finished most of my work here in California for this pass.  Our plan is to have a brief customer visit this afternoon then head back to Oregon.  I should be able to get home by around midnight.  Lorena, Kelly, … Continue reading

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I miss my family a lot

My work here in Livermore IS very interesting and the people are very nice, but I miss my family very much.  It is amazing how much more I worry about them when I am away from them.

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Back to Oakland

I write this post as I travel to Livermore for three days of work. Last night I stayed at a hotel close to Portland International Airport so I could catch an early flight down to Oakland. I should be to … Continue reading

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Talent Show

Today Christian and I are going to go sing at the library’s annual talent show. You can win twenty dollars, ten dollars, or five dollars. We are saving up for a new Nancy Drew computer game OR a rocket OR … Continue reading

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Going to California

Yesterday, we had quite a nice evening. We did our Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad and read a couple of chapters from How to Win Friends and Influence People. Christian read the second chapter. I had not heard him read for … Continue reading

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Above ground swimming pool

I leveled out the ground inside our new fence enough to put up the above ground swimming pool. We did not put it up just right, but I think it will be good enough for this season. Lorena took Kelly … Continue reading

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The new fence

Mark and Clinton have been working on the new fence and it looks just super.  We did not really have a very good idea about what it was going to do to the appearance of the house other than we … Continue reading

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