Happy Halloween!

Olivia was not excited about having her picture taken.
Veronica didn't make the minimum height requirement.
There will not be any costume parades today at St. Mary's school. In fact, there will not even be anyone in costume at the school, either. And no homemade treats for the classroom Halloween parties, either. My, my, have times changed since Mom and Dad were in school.

The girls will be trick-or-treating in their own neighborhood tonight. This is a break in tradition from the past nine years, when we normally ventured down to Bellevue to join the cousins in spooking around their neighborhood. We are also bracing for a very cold night. Already, the wind is howling and daytime temperatures are only expected to reach 50 degrees.

YD Girls Swarm 'Bee Movie'

The girls came home with bee antennae
Thanks to Mom's friend, Larry, the girls were able to enjoy the sneak preview of the "Bee Movie" Tuesday night. This is the movie that features Jerry Seinfeld that he has been teasing with "TV Junior" commercial sketches on NBC.

The girls said they had a great time, with Olivia laughing a lot (and then falling asleep before the end). Veronica was watched by Grandma and Grandpa YD while Dad ran an errand, then he took her home and she was fast asleep before the girls came home.

Earlier in the day, Lauren brought home a certificate from the "Desk Witch," reflecting that her school desk had been inspected and was very clean.

Just Another Manic Monday

Mondays are quite the hectic days at our house. For starters, Emily usually has volleyball AND basketball practice. Tonight was extra busy because her Bellevue Ice basketball team had a meeting for parents AND Dad had to attend a coaches meeting at St. Mary's school.

On top of all that, we nearly forgot about Julia's music lesson, which was postponed from last week after we forgot about it the first time.

Dad is pretty excited for basketball to get started. He has seven girls on his roster (three are new to the team) and he's hoping to recruit at least two more (both returners). If all goes as planned, his team will practice 13 times before its first game on the first weekend in December.

Lauren brought home a very cute spider drawing Monday (pictured at right). Veronica spent much of the day with Grandma YD in order to help Dad get caught up on a few things. She frustrated Grandma a few times by calling her "Grandma Bep" (Dad thinks she was doing it on purpose to get a reaction out of Grandma) and despite taking a very short nap, she was again a bear to get to sleep!

Fun At The Fire Pit

Wouldn't it be nice to have a propane fire pit in your backyard? That's what Mom's friends, The Jones, have outside their Bellevue home near the Offutt Air Force Base.

We were invited over to roast hot dogs and eat s'mores after the Nebraska football game. As you can see from the photo, it is one big fire pit. The girls had fun watching their cousins try to cook the hot dogs. The s'mores actually turned into just a marshmallow roast. And Dad was surprised with an ice cream birthday cake (compliments of his sister-in-law, Frans) and a T-shirt and Vermont mug from Grandma Bep and Papa.

An added treat was the presence of Mom's brothers, Michael and Karl (pictured in the back row at right), who flew in for the weekend. It was nice to see them, though the girls spent more time playing with the Jones' dog than talking with their uncles.

The other cool thing about this house is the swimming pool built into a wooden deck. It didn't look too inviting at this time of the year, but is probably a popular place to be in the summer months.

Volleyball: One And Done

Emily's volleyball team is in the postseason (something the Nebraska football team will not be a part of later this fall).

Tournament play began Friday afternoon at Assumption, where Mom spent several years teaching second grade. Dad doesn't remember the gymnasium lighting being so poor, but it didn't seem to affect Emily's team. The Spartans won the first game, then lost the second game. In the decisive third game, the serving problems that plagued Emily's team throughout the match cost them dearly. When you're only playing to 15 points and you spot the other team a five-point lead, it's hard to come back.

So what's left? One more tournament next weekend.

Julia's Birthday Party

Julia asked her guests to dress up. Her sisters did not.
Julia had two boys and three girls for her party. It seems like a small amount, but Mom said it was easily the rowdiest birthday party we have ever had. ("Because of the boys," Lauren said.)

The careful planning of games and activities went completely out the window when they decided to go outside. Playing on the swing set meant no games of "binghost."

When Mom called them in to wash their hands, they literally freaked out that they would get to frost their own cupcakes. Using real knives, getting to put the frosting on - it was all new to them. (Two years ago, Julia asked for - and received - an "eyeball" cake.)

As for gifts, Julia got a Barbie art teacher set, a Hannah Montana poster, a High School Musical Yearbook and from Mom and Dad, she got a warm-up suit.

Happy Birthday Julia!

Julia awoke this morning to find that the Birthday Fairy visited her overnight, leaving behind a "pug" Webkinz dog.

This is sure to be an exciting birthday, since she does not have school today. On the agenda first, though, is cleaning the house. Mom and Dad have a surprise in store for the entire family if they can accomplish the task.

Treats, Tacos and Trouble

The girls did their best impersonation of scarecrows Wednesday.
We packed up the Suburban last night to run a few errands. Not everyone wanted to go along, though. Emily told us she wanted to stay home. And that had several of the other girls - well, everyone except Veronica - wanting to stay home, too.

Too bad.

We went to Michaels (the arts and crafts store) to get a few things. There, the girls went wild. They had their own cart and went up and down the aisles, checking out everything from bird houses to a creepy hand that moved when you walked in front of it. This was halfway entertaining to them, but after an hour in the store, they were ready to go.

Unfortunately, the checkout section was loaded with candy and other goodies - which Julia, Lauren and Olivia tried to sneak into our cart. Veronica was literally biting into packages of candy (she was HUNGRY).

On the way out, Dad took the picture above of some very realistic-looking scarecrows that resembled our girls. But these scarecrows didn't move or ask for treats or for Mom and Dad to buy a how-to-grow-a-princess-in-water kit.

Our last stop was at Qdoba, where we planned to redeem our UNO hockey tickets for free tacos. Unfortunately, that's where things went a little south. First, we completely forgot that the girls had piano lessons that night. So we frantically called their teacher (after making several calls just to get her number) and told her they wouldn't make it.

The other problem was that no one at the hockey game bothered to announce that the tickets were only good for free tacos the day after the game. Fortunately, the manager still let us redeem them.

Emily Reviews The Hannah Montana Concert

It was packed!

First, we had to get our tickets at the will call window. But we didn't have to wait in a long line. We were near the stage, but not on the floor.

I had a side view of the stage and the stage was huge.

The Jonas Brothers had a big entrance. The people who were playing the instruments were playing when the curtain went up and a huge cage came down and the spotlights were on them. There were three or four songs they played that I didn't know.

After they played 10 songs, there was a 20-minute intermission. We stayed in our seats and talked.

Hannah Montana came out second. She was really rocking. There were three or four songs I didn't know.

Then Miley Cyrus came out (All the people who do not know that she plays Hannah Montana should read this). She sang the same songs that she usually sings at concerts.

After the concert, they were handing out free magazines and I got my picture taken with Elena by Miley Cyrus' tour bus.

(Emily said compared to a UNO hockey game, "they were even" in terms of fun.

The Hannah Montana Concert

The girl on the left is also the girl on the right. Confusing, huh?
We know what you're thinking. Your girls got to see Hannah Montana?" No, not all of them. And we didn't take any of them. Emily's friend, Elena, invited her to Tuesday night's sold-out concert. The scramble to purchase one of the 14,000 tickets led every newscast a few weeks ago. Parents who didn't get tickets complained to one state senator, who vows to revamp the ticket purchasing process to stop scalpers and ticket brokers. (Floor level tickets were going for $1,000 apiece on eBay yesterday morning.)

As for the concert itself, the Jonas Brothers (whoever they are) opened for Miley Cyrus, who is also Hannah Montana. Confused? Dad was too. Until he looked the whole thing up on Wikipedia.

"Hannah Montana" is an American Emmy Award-nominated children's television series which debuted on March 24, 2006 on Disney Channel. The series focuses on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), who lives a double life as an average teenage girl at school during the day and a famous pop singer, Hannah Montana, at night, concealing her real identity from the public other than her close friends and family. (In the photos above, Hannah is on the right.)

OK, let's review. This series has only been on the air 18 months and it's already generated millions in DVD, CD, merchandise and concert ticket sales? Geez, the Disney marketing model is still working overtime.

And if the Cyrus name sounds familiar, it is. Miley is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus of "Achy Breaky Heart" fame. And she's all of 14 years old.

"Can you imagine if we let Emily go around the country singing on a tour?," Mom asked Dad this morning.

"Sure," Dad said, silently thinking of all the money Emily would be earning to put in his retirement fund.

So what did Emily think of the concert? We don't know. She spent the night at Elena's house. Were the other girls jealous? Nope.

(By the way, Mom is feeling somewhat better. She is still dizzy - and her ear still hurts - but she's at school.)

Ouch!

The painful earache put Mom down for the count.
Mom awoke in the middle of Sunday night/Monday morning with a terrible earache. Her worst fears were confirmed a few hours later when her eardrum ruptured. (Generally, the pain increases until the actual rupture occurs, which brings a little bit of relief from the extreme pressure.)

Despite a lack of good sleep and continued pain, she forged on to school. Later Monday afternoon, she headed off to see the ear doctor, who prescribed medicine that comes in unusually large pills.

Anyway, the timing is not good (is it ever?). Tuesday is the start of parent-teacher conferences. So we're praying that she makes it through and can return to her bed for some much-needed rest and relief from the pain.

Driveway Fun

Fun in the driveway included a blanket party and drawing with chalk.
Who said it's fall? The grass is still growing. The trees have their leaves (and many are green) and the unseasonably warm temperatures make it feel more like spring.

So Mom and Dad should not have been surprised when the girls took their blankets outside and had a little pow-wow on the driveway Sunday afternoon. It wasn't exactly hot (temperatures were in the high 50s) but the girls didn't seem to mind.

Emily and Julia coordinated the chalk drawings in the street. Both were "on lookout" for cars coming either direction (we live on a cul-de-sac, so traffic is extremely light) while the other girls did their drawings. The fun was nearly spoiled by Dad - who said it was going to rain - until Emily remembered that the weather forecasts are never right. (And sure enough, it did not rain, as everyone had predicted.

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa!

Dad looked (unsuccessfully) for a picture of the two of them together.
But he did find one of Papa smiling!

Remember This Car?

You didn't win it. And neither did we.
Saturday night was the raffle to decide the lucky winner of the restored car that's pictured above.

Mom attended the "Casino Night" without Dad. He took the girls to the UNO hockey game while Mom hung out with her friend, Angel.

More than 2,100 tickets were sold (at $10 each) for the drawing for the car. The winner was a woman (who Mom said sounded "old") who lives in Arizona. After the raffle organizers phoned her to tell her she won, she opted to take the $3,000 cash prize instead. Anyway, that means the car now goes up for sale.

Mom didn't come home empty handed, though. She won a big pan of pulled pork. It remains to be seen whether the girls will eat it. We'll find out and let you know.

On The Go

Julia shows off her work. Emily gets goofy after volleyball.
If we're running here and there, it must be Saturday.

That's been the story of the first day of the weekend the past month. Emily's volleyball and basketball games keep us on the go. Now you can throw a UNO hockey game into the mix because we have season tickets.

So Saturday, we met up with Emily at her volleyball game. She had spent the previous afternoon and night at Sarah J's house. The two had a ball doing what all fifth-graders do: shopping for hours, eating out and buying new Webkinz and matching outfits. (Big thanks to Sarah's parents for the generosity and taking Emily off our hands.)

Emily's volleyball team played well, scoring another sweep (the fourth of the season, Dad believes). Then it was off to Midas to see if Bob could fix the headlights on our Suburban. He could - and it only took 40 minutes or so. The girls love visiting Bob because his shop has a water cooler (with the little cone paper cups) and a Legos play table.

After that, we rushed off to Emily's basketball game. Unfortunately, that didn't go as well. They lost, 29-7. It was a good wakeup call for Dad, who will be coaching Emily's team at St. Mary's later this fall. The primary problem was a lack of ball-handlers on Emily's team. (The other Bellevue "Ice" team has all the guards, for some reason.)

The last stop of our busy day was the UNO Maverick hockey game at the Qwest Center. This was the second night of the Maverick Stampede (we also went to Friday night's game). The highlight of the night had to be when our section won $10 game cards from Dave & Busters. A close second was the fact the Mavs won both games - and scored four goals in each one. That means we can redeem our tickets for free tacos at Qdoba Mexican Grill (one of Dad's old clients).

Playing at the Lego table at Midas.

Trip To The Airport

Veronica seemed happier to see Grandma Bep than Papa.
Part of our busy day Saturday was a trip to Eppley Airfield (not "airport") to pick up Grandma Bep and Papa. They have been gone forever (six weeks, actually). So it was a big hugging, kissing, smiling affair in the north terminal.


Emily and Veronica always have fun sitting together.


The drive to the airport is a scenic one.


Right: Emily's view of Mom and Dad up front.


Mom always looks good in her sunglasses.

A Trip To The Thrift Store

Well, the Halloween costume debate is a step closer to having some resolution. Apparently, Emily is going as an "old lady" following a trip to the thrift store Thursday afternoon. At least one of the girls is going as a Webkinz character and Mom is doing a great job of gathering the materials needed for that costume.

Meanwhile, Veronica also picked up a little something for herself at the thrift store. As Uncle Paul would say, that bike helmet can double as a "impenetrable headgear survival device." Dad checked it over and determined that it's in mint condition. So the $3.99 price for what is normally a $15 or $20 helmet is a steal. (We'll just have to get her to stop wearing it backwards - and adjust that chinstrap.)

So what's up for the weekend at the YD house? Lauren will be having a sleepover friend, we're going to be taking in plenty of sporting events and there's even a surprise or two in store for the girls.

So What Happened On Tuesday?

The traffic graphic shows a huge spike in visitors on Tuesday.
So what was going on Tuesday that had everyone visiting the YD blog?

That's what Dad is wondering after seeing the traffic report for that day. Since the YD Cafe is "not for public consumption," it's a good question that Aunt Annabelle can probably answer.

Web traffic in Nebraska was noticeably up that day, though, because Tuesday was the day Tom Osborne returned as athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Meet 'Possie'

Our newest "porch pet" is "Possie" (pictured at right). He is a Virginia Opossum.

From Wikipedia: The Virginia Opossum is the original animal named "opossum." A solitary and nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, it is a successful opportunist and is found throughout North America from coast to coast. With his 50 teeth and very thin lips the face of the opossum carries a perpetually snarling expression, making him appear quite vicious, which he is not

Possie has been spotted a few times on our porch, particularly when we put our garbage out there and not in the actual garbage can. The girls, rather than be freaked out by it (like their Dad), have taken a liking to it and nicknamed him "Possie." Regular readers know that we already have a pet squirrel.

Of course, there's the old adage of "playing possum" that the girls probably haven't heard. Here's a refresher about its origin: The Virginia Opossum is noted for its reaction to threats, which is to feign death. This is the genesis of the term "playing possum", which is used to describe an attempt to pretend to be dead or injured with intent to deceive. In the case of the opossum, the reaction seems to be quite involuntary, and to be triggered by extreme fear.

In other news Wednesday, Julia earned a yo-yo for accumulating a row of "good" stars on her chart at her piano lessons. This yo-yo is far from an ordinary one. It lights up when the string is extended to its maximum length. At music lessons, Emily had to tell Mrs. Dunn what composer she would be masquerading as at the annual Halloween party.

Here are the five clues. Any guesses?

1. I am a man.
2. I am a local composer.
3. I am probably best known for my Christmas music.
4. I play drums in a band.
5. One of my songs is called "Chocolate Fudge."

Back to the Future

The past few days have been strange ones for Nebraska football fans.

First, the Huskers suffered their worst loss at home in nearly 50 years. On Monday, Athletic Director Steve Pederson was fired. Tuesday, former coach Tom Osborne was brought back to be the interim athletic director.

So what does that have to do with the YD household? Well, Dad spent two years chasing the Husker football team here and there in 1995 and 1996 as the managing editor of Nebraska Sports America magazine. (Dad wrote the book shown at right.) Previous to that, he covered Nebraska football for the Grand Island Independent newspaper from 1987 through to his TV news producing days. His second day on the job at KPTM, Dec. 10, 1998, Osborne announced his retirement. Dad served as executive producer of KMTV's Husker coverage from 1999 to 2003.

So watching the events in Lincoln unfold from afar have been a little bit surreal for Dad. After ignoring the team for the start of the season (he had a bike racing team to follow, after all), he's actually listened to the last few games on the radio. This week's game is also on the radio (you don't play on TV unless you're winning), so he'll probably be doing that again on Saturday.

Celebrating Steve Pederson's Exit (Not Really)

Uncle Jon seems oblivious to Julia's mugging for the camera.
So Monday night, we joined the masses in a celebratory meal to mark the end of Steve Pederson's reign over the athletic department.

Not really.

We thought we would be meeting our good friends - Susie and Kevin and their two boys - there for dinner. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up on locations and it didn't happen.

On a completely different note, it can stop raining today. Really. It's been raining since Friday night and it's supposed to continue on and off through tomorrow.

Ball Games, Room Changes, Rain

A wet weekend put the brakes on any hopes of cleaning out the garage. But it did not stop the girls from cleaning and re-arranging their rooms.

As you can see from the picture, Veronica has officially made the transition to a "big girl bed" after two years and 25 days. We believe this is the longest a YD girl has spent in a crib.

Emily and Lauren re-arranged their room, as did Olivia and Julia. The change helped them get things cleaned up - and even Dad put his clothes away and tried to tidy things up.

Now, about that rain. It started raining Friday night and it's still falling Monday morning. We're experiencing a leaky ceiling in our kitchen again, so Mom tried to catch it in strategically-position bowls. Mom also spent most of Friday night/Saturday morning up with Olivia and Julia. Olivia wasn't feeling well and Julia was scared of the lightning and thunder.

On the athletic front, Emily's volleyball team won a hard-fought match against her old classmates (Emily is pictured with Lynsey, who used to be taller than her) St. Thomas More. The first game went to St. Thomas More while the Spartans took the second game. Heading into the third game, one of Emily's teammates - who has never played in a game or been at a practice that Dad has attended - showed up just seconds before the final game was to begin. Inexplicably, Emily's coach put her into the game. But the girl came through - serving several winners as St. Mary's won the final game.

Later that afternoon, it was on to the Bellevue Lied Center for Emily's first basketball game with the Bellevue Ice team. Emily scored the team's first basket as the Ice won comfortably. The highlight had to be the girl on the other team who was wearing high-heeled sandals.

What To Do This Weekend...

Hmm... Can you tell which pictures in the series below above from this year and which are from this date one year ago? I know Aunt Bridget has us on a cleaning mission somewhere else on Saturday, but we need to attack some "hot spots" of our own, too.

Other things on this weekend's "to do" list: Emily has both a volleyball and a basketball game Saturday. There's also UNO's red-white scrimmage - and lawn mowing - and more cleaning - and more Halloween costume planning.

Look for a report (with photos) on Monday.

Halloween: Three Weeks Away

Three weeks to go before Halloween and the discussion has begun about what the YD family should dress up as to celebrate the occasion.

Backstory:
In the "early days" of the family (i.e., when we had fewer children), the tradition was to collectively dress up as a family. This led to the girls being Hershey Kisses, pumpkins, clowns, nuns (Dad was a priest) and royalty (Mom was the queen, Dad was the king and the girls were princesses). At some point, some of the girls wished to dress individually. Click here to see last year's picture.

The ideas are being thrown around nightly at the kitchen table. Mom suggests Webkinz, while Dad thinks Omaha landmarks would be the way to go (Woodman Tower, First National Tower, Rosenblatt Stadium, Boys Town, the Desert Dome, West Dodge Expressway, etc.). He is even offering to make them, but it's a toss-up whether the girls would wear them. Collectively, they might look good. But individually, it wouldn't be as cute.

There are a few "groups" that lend themselves to interesting costumes:


The Wizard of Oz | The Spice Girls


So what do you think? Should the YD girls dress up as a group or should they go their individual ways again this year? If you think it should be a collective costume, do you have any ideas?