ScottandBritney.com

White Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:49:00 +0000

We had a very white Christmas....we have had about 12-18" of snow and still have 6" on the ground. The kids have had a blast and have sledded outside nearly everyday. Here are a few highlights from the season.

This is Jack getting ready to decorate the tree. He was very into the ornaments and was very good at clustering his all together.

Grace and Lucas making cookies, well more making a mess and hoping to get some cookies out of it.

Charlito in the snow. We ended up having so much snow we couldn't use the stroller as a babysitter while the other kids sledded.

These shots are from a 2 horse open sleigh. We were invited by some friends to go on a sleigh ride which led to a great sledding hill. Perfect winter activity for the fam.

Early Celebrating

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:53:00 +0000

We are working through our family traditions pretty early this year which is nice. Normally it feels like the week before Christmas we are cramming to get suff done. On Saturday we headed downtown to enjoy the lights, a monorail ride, and the Christmas Carousel. It was actually sort of warm and non-crowded....especially helpful when you take on downtown with 4 kids.

My ladyz got skillz

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Most people that know Britney know she is pretty amazing around the kitchen. She can make your standard meals better than the average chef, she can cook for hundreds and not have it taste like a cafeteria, and one of her most impressive yet lesser known skills is making chocolates at Christmas time. She started with my Mom and has take it to a whole new level. Chocoloate pepperming truffles, key lime something or others, the classic peanut butter, etc. she does them all. The only down side is our house gets taken over by her and her friends for a good 3-4 days, but it is worth it, check out the fruits of her labor.

Annual ride in Tahoe

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:12:00 +0000

I go on an annual ride to Tahoe with some college friends and their friends and their friends-friends. You get the idea, it's a group that has evolved over the years and is one of the best trips of the year. Here are some shots:

The group up in the hills. I'm #4, Brad Edgren is on the orange KTM, John Blatter in the back, Dixon Taylor in red.

John found some extra furniture near where the RV was parked, dragged it over with the bike. Turned out to be pretty cozy place to rest after a 3 hour ride.

Vista shot where you could see for miles. This is day #2 after we had to replace half of Brad's clutch hydraulics at a local shop.

Half way around the world in 4 days

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:20:00 +0000

I took a business trip to Korea this past week for some meetings and was glad to see a country that wasn't so 'Americanized'. It was very modern and advanced in many ways, but they still had a very strong sense of Korean culture vs. places like Germany which felt like the US but with an obsession for beer (oh wait, the US is obsessed with beer...).

Here are some shots:

This was the wall of my hotel lobby. I loved it. It was made up entirely of......

.......these little people. It may be hard to tell, but there are actually several different kinds of people (male, female, old, young, etc.) Pretty cool.

This woman was selling Silk Worm Larvae on the street. That is the hand of my co-worker who bought some (he grew up in Korea) and persisted to try and get us to eat them for the next 4 hours. No takers in the group.This is at 3:00 am at a market the size of most small cities. I tried a new technique for switching back to Pacific time called "stay up all night before your flight home", it worked.

And finally, this is what I love about other countries. There seem to be few rules (as in we have WAAAY too many), that restrict people from being creative and taking the path of least resistance. Yes, that is probably 300lbs of goods stacked on a $500 motorcycle, now ready for delivery.

Charlie does big boy stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:50:00 +0000

I am a sucker for this kid. He is getting so big so fast and Brit and I always talk about how we are going to miss out on his baby days. He is officially eating big boy food, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. and is officially making real poo. He is now in his crib and almost makes it through the night and can almost sit up without his bumbo.

Back to School 08

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Stats:

Grace - 3rd Grade

Lucas - 1st Grade

Jack - Pre-school

So far the best (and worst) part about starting school seems to be riding the bus. The kids were soooo excited to get to ride the bus. I remember why, it was somewhat of a demilitirized zone where there were very few rules. You aren't at home and you aren't at school so it is unclear what jurisdiction you are under and kids seem to live by the motto "what happens on the bus, stays on the bus."

Gracie came home the other day and said "I rode the whole way home with my head out the window!", Lucas was explaining that one boy was telling non-stop penis jokes, and there was already reports that a mother had to come on the bus after her son got off and chew out some boys for bullying .....I rest my case.

Update on my pursuit of 'The holy grail"

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:27:00 +0000

I need to put the vampire book saga to rest. Here is what I've determined.

Girls are in love with the idea of being in love.
If I could bottle the mysterious feelings associated with 'falling in love' I would be a gazillionaire.
It really isn't what the Vampire or the Wolf are doing so to speak, but rather the situation that is what makes the ladies so giddy. I'm not saying that if they replaced the Wolf with Richard Simmons it would have the same effect (the characters definetly do matter), but the attraction is definetly to the situation.
The challenge to all us married folk is to somehow, someway, bring back the days of being in Jr. High and having a serious crush that actually goes somewhere (vs. mine which never went anywhere :-(

I have to say I really felt like Stephanie Meyer may have subtley exposed some law of nature that had yet to be revealed, but in reality she just tapped into being 15 all over again.

An open letter to Twilight fans.

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:10:00 +0000

I have been meaning to hit publish on this post for awhile.....

****Edit****

I knew my understanding of the book was bad, but apparently way off. I guess the vampire is the one that has captured the hearts of the ladies. Question is now edited.

Preamble: I've never read the books but I have lost my wife to them for weeks at a time. I have had a few discussions with my wife about the general plot and what has made her somewhat fanatical in her reading and evangelism, but I have a feeling those were only 'surface scratching' discussions. I would like to think I generally understand the female species, but I definitely don't consider myself an expert. Since I am literally one of the only males that I know of that Blogs (99% of the time to keep a record for my family) I figured I had to turn to the female masses for answers.

I'd like to think of myself as a pretty dedicated, serving partner in marriage. I do dishes, fold laundry, take care of the yard, earn a decent wage, change diapers, etc.

I take my wife on a date a few times a month, tell her she looks hot (well, she is), shop for her clothes and give her constructive feedback, no lazy "uh,yeah, looks good hun", comments, but real "those pockets sit too low on your butt and doesn't give it the justice it deserves" type comments.

With that in mind here is the question that I believe can improve marriages and relationships forever:

What is IT that the vampire does that makes you so enthralled? That damn vampire is doing something that EVERY SINGLE woman wishes WE didn't do, did more of, differently, better. Single handily the vampire/book has seems to be speaking directly to women in a way maybe only Oprah can. (Your answers must be specific, as you can see I listed specific contributions I feel I make to my household, the bat has to be doing something specific that you have smiled about.)

All answers are valid as the female species is diverse and complex so different answers will apply to different marriages/relationships. Please forward my plea to friends, family, any reader of 'the books' and ask them to shed some light for me. In return, I promise to mail the findings to the 99% of males that I know that will never read this blog so they can somehow be more 'vampire' like for you to.

Thanks,

A vampire in training

No-Cal

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:17:00 +0000

After our trip to Blackrock Ranch we spent a few whirlwind days in Northern California. We hit Six Flags Marine World and checked out a bunch of rides and the marine shows. The killer whale was impressive, but the dolphins were our favorite. Gracie and Lucas decided they wanted to get wet so they moved down to the front, we stayed high and dry. Here's the ladies waiting for the show to start. Brad and Rachel's brother in-law Scott is a fireman in Sacramento so we stopped by his station for a tour. The kids were in heaven, especially since 2 calls came in while we were there and the firemen had to run around and jump in the ambulance and everything. Here they are in the back getting a tour of the ambulance.We went to Santa Cruz where we used to go while living in San Ramon. It was a perfect beach day and the kids had a blast.

Blackrock Ranch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:46:00 +0000

We loaded up the family for an old school road trip and headed south. Once we hit the Oregon California border we headed to the coast and went through the Redwood Forest. Britney remembered doing it as a kid so we 'took our time' and went the coastal route. Yes, that is my small family at the base of Paul Bunyan's Ax. Britney remembers going here as a kid and wondering what the big round things were hanging from under Babe the Big Blue Ox :-).

We stayed in a little coastal town called Crescent City and checked out some marine life and local food. Here we the kids are outside the restaraunt.

The first night we 're-arranged' the hotel room and pushed the beds together so we could all watch SYTYCD together (if you don't know the acronym don't worry).

We pushed on through to the Sacramento California area where our friends have access to a 1,300 acre 'ranch' that has a private lake and endless trails. The kids had a blast with the 11 other kids in the group. Here they are loading up in the mule to head down to the lake.

The kids had a blast riding on the jet ski and getting pulled in the tube.

It was a blast to see our good friends, hang out and catch up. Our group is getting big with all the kids, but it is still a blast and a trip we hope to make often.

Family Portrait Time

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:09:00 +0000

We just experienced what I call "one of the top ten most stressful events in life". Death in the family, nope. Job loss, nope. Birth of a child, did that. .......The dreaded family portrait.

We went downtown near the Sculpture Park with a photographer (Jessica Kettle) and right as we get out of the car Jack has a compelte meltdown. After about 20 mins of trying to settle him down and telling him he can pick out ANYTHING from Target as long as he cooperated the shooting began.

We love the photos of the kids (check out the gallery here), but can't decide which family portrait we like best. So, it's up for a vote. Please leave your vote in the comments.

Why........

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:27:00 +0000

...did this make me laugh so hard?

For years I have used this blog solely to keep a meager record of the family, share some occasions with Family and Friends, and every once in a while allow the public to peer into what happens in my head. This is one of those times you get a peek.

I found this picture on a blog I frequent (artsy guy who gets intrigued by even weirder things than I) and had to analyze it a bit.

Is it due to the pirate hat on the little person? Was it his $1.99 Oakley Blade knock-offs that can only be found at "The Flying J"? Was it the horrible prison tattos of 2 lightning bolts pointing to some revolting man-boobs (regretable Navy days I'm sure)? Did these guys call each other and shop at 'The Party Store' before they went to this gathering (oh the look on the sweet little "crafter at the register's" face). Don't miss the pirate 'blouse' on the bearded little-man. I think it is a perfect symphony of humor.

I wish I thought of this....

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:28:00 +0000

I'm jealous I didn't think of this first.

Loneliest Man in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:10:00 +0000

Dearest Britney-

Paris just isn't Paris without the one you love.

Le Grande Fromage,

Scott

(So I am in Paris on business and I have to say that Paris is very beautiful, very historic, all the stuff you always hear about Paris, but not the same when you are alone and without the one you love....it's true. I really wish Britney could be here since she would appreciate it sooo much more than I do (I determined yesterday that I am much more of a Mexico/Hawaii guy than a Europe guy). Anyway here are some shots from my day, I found myself taking pictures of things I thought the kids would think were cool or scary or funny, makes for interesting shots.

Folklife Festival. Release your inner Hippie

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:28:00 +0000

We took the kids into the city for the Folklife festival today which is basically like a Hippie convention. There is alway some decent food, random music, art, etc. but this year we discovered a new part of Folklife that I hadn't observed before.....really bad dancing by those about 50 and older. I'm not sure if it was the "brownies" they had for lunch or just that something happens after 50 where your inhibitions greatly decrease, but there was some serious abuse happening of the art of dance. I leave you with this grainy montage from my still camera, I had to film it since it was really THAT bad.

Father and Sons Campout

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:03:00 +0000

Church organized a Father and Son's campout in Carnation (yeah, only about 15 miles from home :-) last night. I took Lucas and Jack and left Charlie at home since I lacked the proper feeding apparatus. The boys had a blast, especially with the fire. I'm not sure what it is, but boys and fire are a very natural combination. We were first to bed (about 10 PM) and last up (about 7 am) and were proud of it. I think the boys wanted to spend as much time in the tent as possible which was fine with me.

Getting out of the woods...

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:36:00 +0000

It finally feels like we are getting out of the woods with the move. We only have a hand full of boxes to empty and a few (as in 100) projects to complete. Britney's parents were here this week and helped out a TON. We were so lucky to have them here and help out so much.

Since we had a whole bunch of other milestones amidst the move (not in chronological order, just in the order they are coming to me) this is a bit of a blog barf.

1. Gracie turned 8 and was baptised. What can I say, it is amazing to see your own progeny take part in a saving ordinance. Makes you feel old and proud all at the same time.

2. Lucas turned 6. He is such a cool kid, he didn't want to go to Chuck E. Cheese or some jumpy place for his birthday, instead he wanted sushi.

3. Jack decided to try out the new hill our neighborhood and went down the hill full speed on his bike (he's still on training wheels) only to get the death wobbles and mis-judge a dip in the road. It resulted in a face to pavement incident and the following photo:

Charlie is 4 weeks old

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:09:00 +0000

We are getting ready to move next Friday and in the midst of the chaos I decided to fire off 40 or so shots of Charlie. I was feeling guilty for not celebrating him more since we have been so preoccupied with the move. Click on the picture for the full gallery.

Old House, New House

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:27:00 +0000

So here is the story about our housing situation. Britney and I knew that Charlie would push the limits of our current house as far as size goes and it would soon be time to do some house shopping. My plan was to get our house ready, have Charlie, put our house on the market and then find a new house. Britney's went like this, find a new house, make an offer and get the offer accepted, get our house ready, put it on the market, then have Charlie. What actually happened is we listed our house 2 weeks before Charlie was born, sold it the first weekend, signed the papers for both the sale and purchase the day we were supposed to be induced, then had Charlie. We move in under 4 weeks on April 18th.

I have read a few articles that list the "Top 10" most stressful life events and I think we just did 3 of the top 10 in 1 week. We'll do the 4th in a few weeks when we move.

The new house will be great. It is in a really nice established neighborhood, has about 1,000 more sq. ft. and a nice 1/3 acre lot. It needs some work and were able to negotiate in some $ for a new roof and some other upgrades so in a year or so it will be sufficiently upgraded. Some days I wonder if I am crazy for buying this house now, but we are in it for the long haul and will likely a few more 'housing market' up and down turns before we have to move again.

I almost forgot to rave about Redfin. We bought our new house and sold our current house through Redfin. Real agents, but no high commision crap. Here's how it works. When you buy through Redfin they refund you 2% of the purchase price, they keep 1%. We had a real agent that did the paper work and everything. When you sell they charge you $4,000. You get a sign, open house signs, they send a photographer to shoot the house, post it to www.redfin.com, craigslist and other sites and make a flier. The home owner hosts the open houses, but once you have an offer a real agent handles the closing and everything. LOVE IT!! I easily saved $25k between the 2 houses.

Charles David Porter

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Charlie is here (finally!!!). We got the call that a bed opened up at 3 a.m. and ran to grab it before it filled up. Once again Britney was AMAZING and he came out without a hitch. Here are the stats:

Name: Charles "Charlie" David Porter

Weight: 8 lb 14 oz.

Height: 20.5 in.

Click on Charlie for more pictures.

No beds...Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:33:00 +0000

I took a little blogging sabbatical to save some energy for the new baby, the Porter birthday run (4 in 30 days) and our new house (more on this later). Which leads me to the next announcement......No Baby Yet :-(. Britney was scheduled to be induced on Thursday (her Mom is here and waiting), but there has not been a bed open at the hospital? Where am I living, downtown Manhattan after 9/11? Nope. Downtown Baghdad after 'Shock and Awe? Nope. Pearl Harbor after the Japanes got done with it? Nope. BELLEVUE WASHINGTON. Why are there no friggin hospital beds? I am convinced it's because there is a whole labor and delivery ward full of early 40 somethings having their first baby thinking braxton hicks contractions are the real thing. I got news for you ladies, you got plenty of time for another double tall and a mannie and pettie so GET OUT OF THE BED. We are professionals to the point where I am guaranteeing the nurses that we can be out of labor and delivery in under 4hours. Sighhh. Here is a beautiful picture of Britney on Thursday when we were getting ready for the hospital. Hopefully the big announcement will come tomorrow.

Jack the Sneaker Sleeper

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:59:00 +0000

So our Jack has 2 personalities when it comes to bedtime, 1. Dead tired can't stand up Jack and 2. Play in the room and act like its noon Jack. Last night he mixed the 2 and the following happened.

I always go in to the kids rooms and re-tuck them in and kiss them good night on my way to bed. Last night when I went into the boys room this was the first thing I saw:

A few details to point out. Yes, the light was on. This wasn't all that strange as we have gone up several times and found Jack #2 hanging out in his room. The bigger concern was this next photo:

Notice no 2 year old in the bed. This did create some cause for concern so I looked in the closet, behind the chair......no sign of the aforementioned Jack #2. This is when I noticed the next photo:
A strategically placed chair that leads to the top bunk where Lucas sleeps. From the first photo you'll notice all I could see was the top of Lucas head, but after standing on my tippy toes this was what I saw next:
After a brief interview with Jack this morning he said he turned on the light to go up and ask Lucas to open the door (he was looking to make him an accesory to his crime). He tried to wake up 'Lukey' and he wouldn't wake up (which isn't weird for Lucas who has only a single bedtime personality....DEAD). He obviously ran out of steam and passed out next to his sleeping brother.

Georgia Aquarium

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:11:00 +0000

One of the highlights of our Georgia trips is going to the Aquarium. It is really well done and has HUGE tanks with whale sharks, hammerheads, and beluga whales. Here are a few shots of the day.

These are real fish behind Lucas, it looks like a poster, but it is really a tank of fish.I had to ask Britney's permission before posting this one, but so many of our friends never get to see her in all her pregnant glory so I had to post it. Baby is due in late March, 3 more months!

Trauma at the Bowling Alley

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Porter) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 20:06:00 +0000

We are in Atlanta for the yearly in-law visit and have already made our traditional visit to the Urgent Care. It seems like every year we come we end up there with someone for some sort of ailment. The last few times it was Britney and Grace, but this time it was Jack for a dual purpose visit, smashed pinky and cold nasty coughy stuff.

It started at the Bowling Alley yesterday when Jack was excited to roll his ball down the lane. He grabbed the 8 pounder, tripped and managed to fall and allow the ball to smash his pinky against the floor. Blood, tears, more blood, Dad freaking out, then Lucas picks up his ball mid-chaos and does the EXACT SAME THING, minus the blood and massive bruising. Lucas shook it off, but Jack was a mess and we ended up heading home to treat him. So to make a long story short, Jack didn't sleep all night, hacked and coughed from a previous cold, cried "it hurts, it hurts" and so we were off the Doc-in-a-box this morning. The diagnosis....No broken bones, but we should have brought him in yesterday for stitches (Britney feels like a bad parent). Double ear infection and massive cold. Sighh... I hope the next post is not about illness and hurting.