All In Just One Day

Mom and her friend, Angel, made hair bows for all the girls.
10 a.m.: We rush to get ready for Emily's volleyball game. It's at St. Wenceslaus, which is about a 15-minute drive from our house. This is one of the few times we are glad we don't live in Bellevue (a 25-minute drive away).

10:30 a.m.: Mom instantly becomes very popular when she pulls out a box full of beautiful blue hair bows she and her friend, Angel, made for the team (complete with volleyballs on the ribbons).

11 a.m.: Emily's team is on a roll immediately and you can (partially) thank Dad for the momentum. He offered $1 to any girl who can serve up 10 consecutive points. Less than 10 minutes into the match, Laura has done it - serving 13 consecutive points. Game one goes to the Sparatans.

11:15 a.m.: Emily plays in the second game. After a few defensive lapses (like letting four balls drop in front of her), she rebounds with some great serving of her own. She'll finish the match with eight points served.

11:20 a.m.: Olivia is quite comfortable, sitting in the front row (Olivia is pictured at right, sitting on the left). She has her personal TV going and is working on an art project with her friend, Layla.

11:30 a.m.: Time for the friendship game - and for once, we're not playing to save face and win one. Dad watches this one from the scorer's table, since the regular score keeper took off (she either though the match was finished or she was tired of putting up all the points for Emily's team).

11:45 a.m.: Dad pays up, handing off a dollar to Laura. Somewhere, someone from the Nebraska School Activities Association is reading this and making a note that Laura lost her high school eligibility in fifth grade for being paid to play volleyball...

Noon: We stop off at Sortino's for lunch. It's surprisingly quiet. The girls learn golf terms (birdie, bogey, par, etc.) while we watch the President's Cup on the big screen TV.

1 p.m.: Now we know why no one was at Sortino's. The Nebraska football game is on. (Only a radio broadcast this week.)

That's only half the day! But we sure packed a lot into it.

Click above to watch Emily serve up two winners.

School Picture Time

The 2006 Pictures:

And this year's batch...
Emily (left) and Olivia.
Julia (left) and Lauren.
First, it goes without saying that Dad loves putting Julia and Lauren together - just to see what kind of fight those two can get going. So it's only fitting that they are pictured in the same row on this post.

Anyway, once again, Dad and Veronica can only watch helplessly from the sidelines as another year of school pictures are taken. How much have the girls changed? Click here to see the 2005 batch of school pictures (which were compared to the previous year's batch.

Uh, Dad... Did You Drink Out Of That?

Recent conversation at the YD kitchen table:

Emily: Hey Dad, did you open that water bottle?

Dad: What water bottle?

Emily: The one on the kitchen table.

Dad (typically not paying that much attention): I think so.

Emily: Uh, Dad - Did you drink out of that?

Dad (starting to listen): What?

Emily: Did you drink out of that water bottle on the kitchen table?

Dad (now paying attention): Yes, why?

Emily: Dad! That was rainwater.

Dad (wondering just how long it will be before he starts feeling sick): Yuck!

I'm Julia Weide. Now Back To You.

Julia might have a future in TV news, judging by the quality of three videos she made Wednesday night.

We won't go into the fact that the camera is off limits without supervision by Mom or Dad or that she let one of the neighbor girls borrow it (Emily saw it hanging from the handlebars of the girl's bike). The last thing we need is to have to go out and buy another one.

Here, in their unedited, raw state, are Julia's reports from the scene of the YD house. (The photo at right is from July 4, 2006 when we hijacked the KMTV live truck.)

Did you know we had a "Tooter Chair"?

Don't mind Veronica crying in the background...

Veronica is obviously doing fine now.

Now This Is Scary

This is a 7-Eleven clerk's worst nightmare.

Field Trip!

This picture reminds Dad of this picture.
Julia and Olivia's classes took a joint field trip today to Nebraska City to visit an Apple Orchard. This was (we think) Olivia's first time to ride a school bus.

Not pictured is the awesome "lunchable" that each girl got to take along to eat. (Thanks, Mom) Nor is there a picture of Julia shivering in the refrigerated apple room after she left her coat on the bus (she wasn't the only one).

Posing in front of a very old house.
Looks like they hardly had any fun at all.

All Dressed Up... And Someplace To Go

Mom usually complains about the pictures on the blog, but she'll have a hard time doing that with this one.

She was dressed up for an event with her friend, Mo.

Meantime, Dad watched the girls - and they were actually pretty good. They also got to enjoy one of those early fall nights when it's cool - but not so cold that you don't want to be outside.

Nightly Walk

Veronica (left) and Julia aren't too heavy for Grandpa YD.
The weather was definitely a lot cooler Tuesday, but still comfortable for Dad's nightly walk. Julia and Veronica got the honor of accompanying him. Emily had homework to do, Lauren was on restriction (you'll have to ask her why) and Olivia had just woke up from a nap on the way home from school.

Julia rode her bike on the walk while Veronica got a push in the stroller. For the last block or so, Veronica got out and pushed the stroller. Julia and Dad decided she's a pretty good stroller pusher.

The highlights of Tuesday's walk included stops at Aunt Jean's house and Grandma and Grandpa YD's house, as well as a mini football Julia found on the sidewalk.

Emily's Team Comes Up A Winner

Emily's team stretches out in the hallway before the match.
Emily's team had a rare, weeknight match last night. From Dad's experience in coaching basketball, it can be hard to get the girls' focus on the task at hand when they're used to being at home, doing homework (or watching TV and playing on the computer).

Fortunately, the girls were paying attention enough to win a hard-fought match, 2-1. (Yes, that third game did count for something last night.) Emily served up a few winners as the Spartans raised their record to 2-2. Mom caught a point on video that you can watch here:

When Objects Grow Legs And Walk Off

At the YD house, we seem to be having a unique problem. Common household objects like backpacks, lunch boxes, hair bows, brushes, shoes and even bicycle helmets seem to be growing legs and walking off.

How else to explain their sudden disappearance? One minute they were right there, sitting on the counter or laying on the floor. The next moment, they're gone. Obviously, they walked off on their own.

The latest item to disappear was Lauren's agenda book. She had Mom sign it last night. Then she put it in her backpack so it was ready for school the next day. (Or did she?) This morning, it was GONE! It probably went for a date overnight with Lauren's flip flops, which were also missing in action.

Hmmm... do you have this problem at your house?

Veronica: Age 2 Status Update

In all the excitement of Veronica's birthday celebrations, we neglected to include our standard update on what Veronica is like these days.

At the age of 2, Veronica is talking in two and three-word sentences. She still says "Em-uh-Lee" when she wants something from her oldest sister and she hardly ever asks for something without saying, "please." (She also will say "thank you" if you fulfill her request.)

Much like her sister Julia, she is a "destructor," who can tear apart a room in the blink of an eye. She likes wearing other people's shoes and she has made it to level 2 on the "brickbreaker" game on Dad's phone. She will swing on the swingset for as long as you'll push her and don't be surprised if she grabs the stroller and pushes it toward you while saying, "walk."

Unlike her four older sisters, she still sleeps in a crib at this point (It is embarrassing to type this), mostly because we gave away the "big girl" and trundle bed when we moved to this house. She can almost dress herself and is ready to be potty-trained, but just needs a little more help from Mom and Dad to set her straight on things.

It remains to be seen how tall she'll wind up. She isn't afraid to mix it up with her older sisters, though, and has had to be broken of the pinching and biting that has occasionally cropped up. However, she is also quick to give hugs and kisses and say "sorry" when she does hurt someone else's feelings.

Crunch

At least no one was in the car when it got crunched.
Dad and Julia were trimming back brush in the backyard yesterday when Mom tried to get their attention. She was talking with the neighbor girl about something. Since Dad didn't have his glasses on, he wasn't sure who it was and what she was doing in our yard.

Moments later, it was apparent why she was interrupting his Rambo-like destruction of the plants and trees invading the yard from neighboring yards. The photos above show the damage left after the neighbor girl backed into his car.

This isn't the first time the car has been crunched by another. Remember this little incident in the spring of 2006? This time, the damage is far less significant. In fact, Grandma YD thinks you could take a plunger to the door panel and pop that dent right out.

Dad's Birthday: Part I and Done

Where's Olivia? She didn't want to be in the photo.
Dad's 40th birthday was Friday and he took full advantage of the opportunity to do his annual "epic" birthday bike ride.

This year (he can't even remember where he rode last year), he left from the Wabash Trace Trailhead and ventured through the Southwest Iowa bluffs, with stops in Mineola, Glenwood and Central City. Four hours - and 74 miles - later, he was back home, having lucked out on missing a storm front that dropped the temperature about 10 degrees and had the wind gusting to 25-30 mph.

As for the "surprise" aspect of his birthday (since there was a surprise birthday party for his 30th), Mom had gone to great lengths to get 40 birthday cards mailed to him. The unofficial count (photo above) puts the number close to 35, with more trickling in each day. Thanks to everyone who took the time to take part! The other part of the surprise was the 40 balloons that Mom and the girls blew up and placed on the front yard. Now the neighbors know that there is officially a crabby old guy living in that red brick house.

A Tough Loss

Emily can blame Dad for Saturday's loss to St. Roberts. After all, her volleyball team won its game a week ago when Dad was on the road. She also had the honor of playing in the first volleyball match Mia (Stacy's daughter) ever attended.

It was a great match, though. The Spartans fell behind by as many as nine points in the first game before rallying back to take a 20-19 lead. Emily's three ace serves contributed to the comeback.

The second game was a near re-run of the first. St. Mary's trailed by 11 points but shook out of the slump with some tremendous digs and a rally that put them in the lead, 21-20. However, the scoreboard operator failed to put up that 21st point. By the time the next point was played, the score was still wrong. After much discussion, the Spartans were short a point and a new scoreboard operator was brought in. The end result? Emily's team lost that game, too, 25-23.

Who Does This Sound Like?

Wheeler-Dealer | Writer | Producer

If you were born on this day, Sept. 21:
You have many talents that can be used in a variety of endeavors. you have a great sense of humor and like to channel your creative intelligence in a myriad of ways. There is so much that you can do once you set your sights on a goal. You are innovative and ambitious, and it is important for you to develop self-assurance.

Veronica's Birthday Party, Part III

That's a mighty big treat for a two-year-old.
Yes, the birthday celebration for Veronica continued Thursday night. This time, Aunt Dee-Dee and Uncle Jon joined us at Granite City (no, kids do not eat free there).

With three "virtual" birthday folk at the table (Veronica, Dad and Aunt Dee-Dee), Mom inquired about any free treats for those celebrating a birthday. Of course, only Veronica ended up with the "small sundae" to enjoy. (They must know Dad is trying to cut weight after his buffet bonanza at the Tour of Missouri.)

Birthday Bonanza

Veronica even dug out her birthday suit for the occasion.
Veronica may have only been turning two years old, but she knows what a "Happy Day Do" (her way of saying "Happy Birthday") is all about. Never was that more evident than when Emily, Julia and Mom came home from piano lessons. Veronica was ready to open her presents - and practically tore through the bags before Mom could get even put them out on the table.

Veronica's gifts included:
A "Pink Piggy" backpack (with handle and rollers).


A"Pink Piggy" lamp.
A Webkinz animal.
And a delicious cake that Veronica couldn't wait to dig into.

Kindergarten Benchmark

Click the video to watch Olivia tie her own shoe.

Happy Birthday Veronica!

Has it really been two years since this day?
Veronica turns two years old today. If you're wondering what that day was like, you can either visit our September 2005 archives or specifically read the detailed "waiting for YD Baby No. 5" entry.

Here's a refresher on her vital statistics:
Time of birth: 3:38 p.m.
Height: 21 inches
Weight: 9 pounds, 3 ounces

Veronica awoke to discover that the Birthday Fairy had paid her a visit.

She also received a nice purse from the birthday fairy.

Posing on her second birthday...

...and with her oldest sister, Emily.

This Isn't The Toyota-United Website...

Dad was reminded (in no uncertain terms) that this is the YD family blog and not the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team website.

So, if you're looking for dozens of photos of Dad and his team, check out the official website here.

Now, back to the YD family blog...

Hoppers Begins His Journey

Today began a seven-month journey by Emily's special stuffed animal friend, Hoppers.

Hoppers is part of a geography experiment being done by Emily's fifth grade class. Each student's critter friend will be venturing here and there with strangers, documenting their travels through a journal and pictures. (At right, he poses with Tour of Missouri Stage 6 winner Ivan Dominguez in St. Louis.)

Dad helped get Hoppers on his way by passing him along to a couple friends at the Tour of Missouri. Hoppers will first head to California with Jodi, then he's on to Germany with Alicia. Between now and April, he will hopefully have a lot of fun tagging along with people all over the globe.

The real question is whether he'll make it all the way back to Emily's school in April - and what kind of shape he will be in at that time. Dad put a memory stick in his little backpack to help people more easily share their photos. The journal has about 15 pages in it. Dad is guessing people will have to add more.

So, if you come across Hoppers, please write in his journal, take your picture with him - or of him - somewhere and then hand him off to someone else.

Weekend Recap

Lauren and Julia pose outside the bowling alley
where Julia attended a birthday party.

Julia and her friend, Nick, at his birthday party.

Emily's team won its first volleyball game Saturday.

The Help For Veronica We Appreciate

Veronica hamming it up for the camera (as usual).
This year, Veronica is the only YD girl who is not in school. That means she gets to spend some quality time with a variety of friends and family who are generous enough to watch her while Dad works at home. We couldn't manage without them! This also means she is getting some great one-on-one attention.

Just yesterday, Dad learned from Tante Frans that Veronica sorts the pencils at her "Apples & More, A Teacher's Store" when she goes there on Thursdays. Not only does she sort them, but she also puts them away in bins.

Veronica is also becoming quite attached to a piece of Mom and Dad's childhood. We told you about Captain Kangaroo on YouTube. Now, it's the PBS classic "3 2 1 Contact" show open that she enjoys watching.

"Daddy, baby!," she'll say. Or "kitty cat" when she sees the kitten in the show open. Hey, who says a 27-year-old TV show can't entertain!
Watch the show open to "3 2 1 Contact."