Matthew is a Rock Star!

Wednesday evening, we went to Matthew's Christmas concert at school. For those of you who don't know, he plays the drums. He managed to be selected "Percussion Leader" in the 6th grade band this year. He also learned to play the bells. That's what they call it. I think it's more of an xylophone. But anyway, Matthew really took it. So much in fact, that he learned some Christmas songs on his own by practicing them here at home. He played them for his instructor, and his instructor liked them so much, he told Matthew that during the brief intermission between the 6th grade and 7th grade concert, Matthew will now be playing a solo. Frosty The Snowman. Hence, the video. The first few seconds of it are cut off. Our camera sucks. You hit record, and like 10 seconds later it starts. Also, some lady steps in front of me and temporarily blocks the view. But you can still here him playing. And you can hear the roar of the crowd when he's done. I told him to kick the bells over and raise his fists in the air when he was done, but he didn't. I don't know how he expects to be a rock star without showing a little attitude, but whatever. He told us afterwards that he was so nervous that his knees were shaking! But I guess he summoned his inner Jimi Hendricks and pushed through it! Super proud of him. I warned him that life as he knew it was done. The chicks were going to be all over him now. But so far, no luck. I told him he should have kicked those bells over. Rock on dudes!

Great Sunday!

Boy did Aaron and I have a big day on Sunday! We snagged two tickets to the Redskins/Jets game at FedEx Field. Had a great time. Redskins lost, but what's new, right? Didn't make any difference. Had a fantastic time with my little buddy anyway. The tickets were awesome! Club level. Front row parking spot. And the price was very reasonable. Free, courtesy of Schell Brothers. That's the guys who did the Extreme Makeover house. They have four season tickets, and I got two of them this week.

Aaron was high fiving people around us when the Skins made a good play. And please, save your breath, I'll say it for you. "Not many high fives that day" I know, but it was still fun to watch. I think the best part was getting our picture with two of the Hogettes. Aaron had no idea what was going on. He kept asking me why those guys are dressed up like old ladies! Didn't even try explaining about offensive lineman, hogs, yadda, yadda, yadda. As far as he knows, him and dad went to a football game and got a picture taken with transvestite swine. Oh well. Being in this family, he'll learn what the Hogs were soon enough.

That was the first time I ever been to FedEx field. Very large, very LOUD. The 12th man was alive and well yesterday. I remember going to a few games at RFK, but that was YEARS ago. Back when they didn't suck so bad. In fact, they were actually quite good. Superbowl caliber if I recall. But I digress. I guess I'm just oozing burgundy and gold again. Somebody get me a towel.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks!

Talk to you soon.

Christmas is Here

Well, here we go. The Christmas season has officially begun. We started setting the tree up (as you can see) Saturday afternoon after I got home from a job. Then we finished it Sunday after breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I'm still debating on whether or not to put up any lights outside this year. We usually put lights on all the trees down the driveway, but I'm not sure I'm feeling it this year. We'll see.

We really enjoyed seeing everyone Sunday morning. We definitely need to do that more often. The boys always have a good time with that. Matthew likes being in charge of all the names in the hat as well. Please don't forget to send along your wish list. I emailed ours yesterday. Check your emails. We are all looking forward to having everyone over this year. Still trying to figure out what will be on the menu. We'll figure it out soon.

In other news, this year's first report cards came home last week. Not too shabby. Collin and Matthew both made honor roll. Aaron did well also, but there's no honor roll in kindergarten! Proud of our boys.

Enjoying our time off. No practices during the week. No games on Saturdays. LOVE IT! I know it's short lived, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Well, that's all for now. Merry Christmas! Now go be jolly or something!

11/17/11 Update

Wow! It's been almost a month since I posted last? Holy cow. Well anyway, the latest football update is, we're done. Our 8-0 season is in the crapper. We lost to Laurel so we didn't get to go to regionals in New Jersey. But we still made the playoffs in the Henlopen conference, which is basically the whole state of Delaware. We had a first round bye for that tournament, but when we did play, we lost big. I think our boys were just done. Had enough. Ready to move on to other things. Holidays, girls, who knows. All I know is the team I saw play those last two games, was not the same team I saw the previous eight. No fire. Oh well. It was a good run.


In other news, the episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition that we are in airs tomorrow night. That's Friday November 18th at 8:00. I'm pretty sure you won't see me on camera. I don't remember ever seeing cameras filming me, but I guess you never know. But you should definitely see our work. All the pimped out closets, that's us. Should be interesting to watch. I'm very curious to see how they play up the fact that the build happened right in the middle of Hurricane Irene. The state made them shut down the job for safety reasons during the storm. First time in the show's history that that has happened. Can't wait to watch.


And for the biggest news item, Collin turns thirteen Saturday. I think for the first time in my life, I don't know what to say. There is no possible way he's thirteen already! Oh, the fun years we have ahead of us. They say that your kids will repay you for all the bad stuff you did as a child. Luckily, I was a very good kid. Now Linda on the other hand? Well, I won't get into all that. I'll just say that I'm going to get paid back for all the bad stuff she did. Totally not fair.

Anyway, that's all for now. Oh wait. There is one more thing. I'm going to see if my writing stills wields the same power it did before. Here goes. Habitants of Princess Anne. I command you to come to Delaware for Thanksgiving. That is all.

Well, we'll see what happens!

Three Little Monkeys Sittin' In The Tree...

Ok. About a third of the wood is stacked. Ran out of daylight. And as promised, here are the boy's school pictures. Aaron kinda looks like an innocent little orphan. He looks like he's saying "Please take me home". Matthew, in case you can't tell, is wearing his New York Giants jersey. He was adopted. Collin, on the other hand, is wearing a Redskins t-shirt. Smart boy. But that hair. Sheesh. What a mop. He's since got it cut. He no longer looks like a founding member of The Monkeys. Although he does still like to monkey around. Sorry. Couldn't resist. Talk to you soon.

8-0 Baby!

Well, it's official. The Cape Vikings Pee Wees are 8-0! They beat Laurel today 16-0. Sixth shut-out of the season. We play again Saturday to see who is top dog in the state and moves on to regionals. Depending on who wins a game Wednesday night, we may play the same Laurel team again Saturday. We'll have to wait and see. Matthew blocked his tail off today. Really proud of him. If anyone wants to see some smash mouth football, be at Milford High School at 3:00 on Saturday. If you live in, oh I don't know, Maine, you may want to leave a little early to get there on time. If you can't make it, I'll let you know how it goes.

We got this year's school pictures for all the boys. I'll try to post them later tonight. Right now, I've got to go stack all the firewood I split last Sunday. If I don't get it all done today, I'll be hosting a wood stacking party tomorrow. All the fresh air and sunshine you can handle. Party starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. Bring a friend. Or two.

Interesting Week. And It's Only Thursday

Matthew's team won Saturday. We beat Milford 24-0. Our defense's fifth shut-out of the season. One game to go against arch rival Laurel. Laurel's pee-wee team hasn't lost a regular season game in like eleven seasons. They were the eastern region champs last season. The boys' goal is to be the team to break the streak. I'll let you know how it goes.



BREAKING NEWS!!



This just in. Collin's formerly underachieving football team (0-4 record) won their first game today! It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it. Hopefully this will give them some much needed confidence. We'll have to wait and see.


Tuesday I went on a field trip with Matthew to Philadelphia. We went to the Franklin Institute. Good trip, but a two and a half hour school bus ride, each way, with a bunch of sixth graders, it was a long day. The best part, for me anyway, was on the way there. We were still on I-76 and had just entered Philly. We were passing some pretty run down row houses. Graffiti on the buildings, old cars, trash, the usual. All the kids were looking out the windows when one of them yelled out, "Look, it's the ghetto!" I almost fell off my seat. You can really tell we live in the country.


One more story and I'll leave you alone. I promise. After dinner tonight, Aaron decided he wanted to play a game on the Wii. He picked out a game that he saw his brothers frequently play. You're an alien and you go around shooting all the humans. Not the most educational game in the world, but whatever. Anyway, he told Linda that he'll turn down the sound so he can't hear the bad words that they say in the game. Mind you, the rating on this game is teen, not mature. Linda asked him "What words do they say?" Aaron said "I can't say them. It's words that Daddy says". Ok. Now before you go on the "see I told you so" kick, the word they say is dumbass. Not the most offensive word I've ever used. In fact, it's kind of a term of endearment in our house. When one of the boys does something stupid that we all get a good laugh at, sometimes I'll say, jokingly of course, "You little dumbass!" And then we all laugh some more. I'm going to chalk it up to having all boys. I don't think a little girl would take her Dad calling her a little dumbass very well. But with boys, it's like "Yeah, I AM a little dumbass! Now who wants to pull my finger?"

Ok. I lied. I do have one more story. Not really a story. More of a gripe. Tuesday, after the field trip, Matthew and I were on our way to football practice. We were flicking through the stations, when I came across a slow song. It sounded familiar when I first heard it, so I stopped on it for a second. That's when we realized. It was a really bad version of Silent Night! That's right. Christmas music! It was Tuesday, OCTOBER 18TH!!! Are you kidding me?! It was like I was living in Bizarro World or something. Who in the world would want to listen to Christmas music in October? Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas music. We play it a lot in our house. But not until December! Hopefully the program manager of that station will look back in January, after listening to three months of Christmas music and say, "Man, that WAS a bad idea. Everyone was right. I really AM a dumbass." We can only hope. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Kickin' Butts and Humpin' Mutts

Ok. Time for an update. The last time I posted, the Cape Vikings were 4-0. Fast forward two weeks or so, and viola! 6-0. Two games to go. The boys are playing well. When I say "boys" I'm referring to Matthew's team. Collin's middle school team? Not so much. 0-3. Game number four in about two hours. This season has been a whole new experience for Collin. In school ball, unlike Pop Warner, there's no weight limit. Some of these boys, and I use the term "boys" lightly, that Collins is playing against are six feet something two hundred plus pounds. Some of them have mustaches. I think I saw one of Collin's teammates kiss his wife and kids goodbye before the last game. Then he drove them all home after the game in his SUV. Ok, maybe I exaggerate just a little, but you get my point. Kind of hard to throw the ball when you've got a six foot something tall, two ton wall of beef closing in on you from all sides. Oh, yeah. Did I mention nobody likes to block on Collin's team? Makes for a LONG day. Good experience for him though. He actually didn't do so well in their first game and his coach benched him and now he's second string QB instead of first. But I think he's feeling a little redeemed because the now starting QB is having the same issues Collin did. Nowhere to run, nowhere to throw! Oh well. It's only week four. There's still time for improvement.

In other news, Matthew once again qualified for Pop Warner Scholastic All-American. This year the banquet is being held at Walt Disney World instead of crappy old Chicago like last year. We didn't go to last year's in Chicago because, well, it's Chicago. Eeesh. No thanks. We'll have to see about this year's banquet. Disney World sounds mighty tempting. We've never taken the kids there. They REALLY want to go. We'll see. Depends on work and paying off some bills.


Izzy, the ever growing, constantly chewing, never stops running, and now as an added bonus, frequently humping, golden retriever is doing well. But man is he getting LARGE. Just shy of six months old and he's fifty-seven pounds. We thought we were safe as far as his size was concerned because the breeder told us that his dad was sixty-five pounds and his mom was sixty. Well, he's just three pounds shy of his mom's weight already. He'll probably put that on before I finish this post. I think we were dooped. We didn't get a golden retriever. We got a mutt. Half golden, half miniature pony. I'm going to start renting him out for kid's birthday parties. But seriously, the only bad thing right now is he's got the body of an adult, but the mind of a puppy. And no, Linda, that does not accurately describe me too. He'll do things just playing around, not realizing how strong, big and clumsy his is, and knock you on your butt. The other day, Linda was standing in the kitchen and Izzy walked up and stood behind her. I know you probably think this is where the humping comes in, but it's not. Sorry. Linda, not knowing he was even there, took a step back, fell over him, and dislocated her shoulder. Luckily, she was able to pop it back in place. Then two days later, he did the same thing to Dianne. Only without dislocating anything. Eventually, I'm sure he will grow into his body. Until then, if you come to our house, wear some football gear. You may need it.



Well, that's all for now. Have to get ready to go to Collin's football game. See ya!

Sweet Redemption

It's unbelievable that the Vikings regular season is half over already. Seems like it just started. Our record is 4-0. The boys look really good. We just got back from today's game and what a sweet victory it was. But first, a little history. If you recall, last season we played the team from Woodbridge ( see Football Heroes October 28, 2010) and they were the nastiest, dirtiest team we ever faced. And they kicked our butts, 21-0. After a year of brewing over that loss, our boys got to face them again today. Except today's game was at our field, with very different results.
Cape 24 Woodbridge 6. Boy that felt good. We scored on our opening drive and never looked back. We get to enjoy this win until Tuesday (that's our next practice) then it's on the road to Smyrna. If you also recall, they are the team that beat us last year in the playoffs and ended our season. Going into today's game, they were also 3-0. Not sure if they won today or not. regardless, they are the hardest team we have faced so far this season. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, Aaron is enjoying school. What he is not enjoying is his seasonal allergies. Poor kid. Coughin' and hackin'. Every night for the last three nights when I put him to bed, it's been the same thing. Lay down. Cough, cough, cough. Gag, gag,gag. Jump up out of bed. Barf. It's been a real adventure. Luckily, he's only blown chunks in his bed once. And we go through this two or three times a night before he falls asleep. Spring and fall are great fun at our house. Linda gets the seasonal allergies, too. She gets to coughing so hard, she pulls muscles in her back. Anyway, I'm sure you don't care about allergies and spewing fluids. This blog was not created to talk about medical conditions and secretions. It was created to inform and influence people. Perhaps even magically brainwash people into doing what I say. One example. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in a post that people from the Princess Anne area should come to Salisbury to watch a football game. I gave an exact time and everything. Little did I know the power of my writing. People from Princess Anne showed up in droves. Droves, I tell you. There was at least two of them. Incredible. The power of the written word. I must be careful with my posts in the future. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Or something like that. By the way, I want a representative from the Delaware Lottery to show up at my house tomorrow and give me a check for the winning Powerball numbers. It is written.

Izzy Photos

As promised, here are some current photos of Izzy. It's really difficult to get a picture of him. He's never still for very long!

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Well, it's begun. Our first football game was yesterday. And as I'm sitting here writing this, I realize I haven't updated you on Collin's football journey. Collin and Matthew both started out on the Pee Wee squad this season, but since Collin is twelve, he had to play as an "older lighter". That just means since he's older, he can't weigh as much as the other kids on the team. Ten and eleven year olds can weigh up to 120 pounds. Collin, as well as some other players on the team, had to top out at 100 pounds. Well, despite REALLY trying, eating only lean protein, and running like he was Forrest Gump, he just couldn't do it. He got down to 105, but that's where he bottomed out. He just didn't have any more to lose. The boy is like five seven or something and has about two percent body fat. Anyway, he had to move on to school ball. He's now playing at Beacon Middle and is in the running for the quarterback job.

With that said, Matthew is still playing Pop Warner and, as I said, had his first game yesterday. Cape Vikings 31. Harrington Huskies 0. Cape really looked good. Matthew is playing starting right guard, kick off team, and punt team. Needless to say, our punt team didn't see much action yesterday. Our next game is this Saturday against Wicomico. That's Wicomico. As in Salisbury. As in close to Princess Anne. Just thought I would throw that out there for anyone who may just happen to live in the Princess Anne area and may want to see their Grandson, umm, I mean Matthew, play some football. Kickoff is at 1:00. Oh, and while you're there, you can also see the team's new and improved water boy. Every time there is a time out called, he sprints to the field with his bottles of liquid gold. Precious hydration, Collin be thy name. Yup, one way or another, he was going to be on that field! Linda told me after the game that she thought the water boy was cute and she wanted his autograph!

Also, school starts Tuesday. Collin and Matthew are both now in middle school and, believe it or not, Aaron starts kindergarten. There is no way he's old enough for that! Didn't we just have him like a year ago or something? Jeez, time flies. Not only are the boys getting big, but Izzy, the new wonder dog, is getting as big as a horse. And eating like one, too. More pictures of him to follow.

Anyway, that's all for now. Have a great Labor Day Weekend everyone!

Thank You, Irene

Well, it's Sunday morning. The day after Irene came to town. And I must say, we fared pretty well. The only real damage we have, as you can see, is to our pear trees. Our driveway will never be the same! Oh, well. Considering we had the eye of a category one hurricane just a few miles away from us, some tree damage doesn't seem so bad. We boarded up the big windows on the second floor on Friday. Not sure if they would have blown out had we not boarded them up, but better safe than sorry. The weird thing is, we never lost electricity. Not once. Never even blinked. I thought for sure we would lose it. We lost it for eight hours during the last blizzard. As Linda said, it goes to show the power of prayer. Losing some trees is one thing, but no XBox? No TV? Ooh, and no hot coffee this morning? Time to panic. We might have had to leave and come back when power was restored! Speaking of leaving, we found out last night, just as the storm was getting bad, that we couldn't have left if we wanted to. All the bridges off the peninsula were closed. Crazy.

Anyway, time to go clean up. Then I have to get ready for the Extreme Makeover build! We've got four large closets to install and three hours to do it! Yikes! Just waiting now for them to tell me when our new scheduled time to install is. I'll keep you updated and let you know how it goes. Stay safe!

What up, dog?

Hi. How ya doin? My name is Izzy. I'm the dog your mother warned you about. Just kidding. I'm a good boy. Most of the time. I'm only twelve weeks old, so I like to get into everything. Oh yeah, and chase cats. LOVE to do that. I also like to chew everything. And everyone. Including Collin, Matthew, and Aaron.

Although my name is Izzy, my family has several other names for me as well. Izzynator. Izzykins. Izmeister. My mom calls me paininmyass. I don't get that one. Must be German or something. Whatever.

Anyway, did I mention I like to swim? Like. Not love. Still getting used to that one. I do , however, LOVE to retrieve my tennis ball. I get all kinds of lovin' when I bring my Dad the ball back. I even lay in his lap and roll over so he can rub my belly! Love me some belly rubbin'.

Well, that's about it. I've run out of things to say about myself. Good things anyway. The bad things, like the alleged accidents I had in the house, all lies.. It was the cat. She set me up. Stupid cat. Hold on. I need to lick my self............................ Ok. I'm back. Where was I? Oh yeah, cats. They sure are stupid, aren't they? Anyway, I better get off this computer. Dad hates when I use his laptop. Geez, what a diva. Talk to you soon.

UPDATE!!

They did it! Lewes' 9-10 All Star team won the championship last night! And they did it at home in front of a packed house. But wait, there's more. Actually, it's the best part. Allow me to paint the picture for you. Championship game. Top of the 6th. (which at this level is the last inning) 5-5 tie. First up? Matthew. First pitch. Taken strike. Second pitch. Swinging strike. Third pitch. Foul ball. Fourth pitch...... Wait for it...... Wait for it......Matthew swings. It's a monster shot to deep right field that rolls all the way to the wall! Stand up triple! And the crowd goes wild! Our next batter gets walked. Our third batter hits into fielder's choice and drives Matthew home for the go ahead run. Eventually our second batter scores as well and we go into the bottom half of the inning ahead 7-5. I must say though, the other team made it interesting. They eventually loaded the bases with two outs. Batter at the plate strikes out looking. Game over. What a night. As I said in my last post, God has a plan for everything, and boy did he have one last night. It was such a great feeling after Matthew was standing up on third base, A bunch of other Dads came over to me, high fiving, shaking my hand. "Did you see that?! What a shot!" Truly a night to remember. Here's a link to the story.
http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/sports/story/lewes-9-10-all-stars-win-district-iii-title-with-7-6-win-over-lower-sussex/127771

In other news, we have a new addition to our family. It's an eleven week old golden retriever. His name is Izzy. He is all energy, all the time. And he loves the water. He's already jumped in the pool. Pictures to follow. Also, we're right in the middle of Collin's tournament. Right now, we're fourth out of seven teams. But we've worked out some bugs and some jitters and should make a good run at it. I'll keep you posted.

That's all for now. Gotta go to work. More ball to play tonight! Bye.

Good Bye Old Friend

On Tuesday July 5th, we lost our beloved dog Bailey. He's been a member of our family for going on fourteen years. He was literally our first child. Our hearts are broken. Moving on without him will be strange and difficult. The kids have never known a time in their lives where Bailey wasn't around. This family will never know a smarter, more gentler dog than Bailey. But God has a plan for everything, and we know in our hearts that it was his time. And as sure as I'm sitting here writing this, I know he's up there running around, barking at the angels when they sneeze! No more pain, no more pesky cats. And no more thunderstorms! So good bye, little buddy. You will be sorely missed. Good boy, Bailey!

Let The Madness..... Continue

Whew! Baseball season if officially over. Well, kinda. More on that in a minute. Once again, just like last year, Matthew's minor league team finished second. Great season, though. we both had lots of fun. On the other hand, Collin's major league team won it all! 2011 Lewes Little League champions! With a final record of 10-2, we qualified for a one game playoff to determine a champion. The Braves won ( by slaughter rule in five innings) 14-4. Collin really had a great season. We can really see lots of improvement in both the boys' play. Here's a link to the story in the Cape Gazette.

http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/sports/story/lewes-braves-win-major-league-title/119047

So when I said that the season is over, what I meant was the regular season is over. Both Collin and Matthew were selected to play in all-star tournaments. Collin was selected to play in the
11-12 Pat Knight Invitational All-Star Tournament. Matthew to the 9-10 Delaware District Three All-Star Tournament. Both boys will be representing Lewes, just on different teams at different tournaments. Oh, and I was asked to coach on Collin's team. No rest for the weary. Oh well. They're both super excited, so it's worth it. I'm super excited because there goes our month and a half break between baseball season and football season! YAY! Thanks guys.

So, anyway we're preparing for all that. Trying to keep up with work, trying to keep Aaron wearing his glasses. And I've started receiving report cards from football players already for this season. Now I have to start evaluating each one. Part of my responsibilities for the position I took last winter. Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

My Father's Day was great. First order of business? Grocery store. Second? Dig up the septic tank and clean the filter so it stops backing up in our yard. Yummy. Nothing says Father's day like when your kids are inside playing Xbox and your outside, ankle deep in poo. Can you feel the love yet? Me too. But I must say it got better after that. Took a short nap. Cooked out on the grill. Had a couple Bud Light Limes. Then just did a lot of nothing until bedtime. So overall, it was good.

So anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to post again soon. Bye!

Far Out!

Well, it' happened. In our house, the blind are definitely leading the blind. Aaron just got his first pair of glasses. But unlike Collin and I who are both nearsighted, he is nearsighted, farsighted, and has an astigmatism in both eyes. He didn't know what he was missing until Saturday when we picked up his glasses. And while I'm on the subject, I'm not sure of the correct use of the term. I know some people that say "He's got a stigmatism" Like stigmatism is the proper name. Now I know it's proper name is astigmatism, but am I using it correctly? You wouldn't say "He's got a cancer" You'd say "He's got cancer", or whatever. So is it a noun? Or a verb, or something else? Perhaps it's like the F word. Now there's a versatile word. So many uses. It's a noun. "You stupid F" It's a adjective. " Where's the F ing remote?! (used that one before. Sorry Mom) It's a verb. I'm not going there. Anyway. Some help with my grammar problem would be appreciated. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section.

The Memorial Day party went well. or as we like to call it, "Mattiapaloozastock". 16 tents, 63 people, 17 pounds of pork, 40 pounds of chicken, every sidedish known to man, and two campfires. The only things missing were the drugs, the mud, the free love, and Janis Joplin. It was a good time. But I'm glad it's over. I've never put out so much garbage to the curb as I did that following trash day. WOW! We definitley owe the trash man a six pack at Christmas!

Anyway, that's all for now. Time to go play baseball! Now where are my F ing keys? Love that word. By all!

Back To Nature

Hey. What do you know. I actually have something to write about! The boys and I just got back from a camping trip. We had alot of fun. We went to Trap Pond State Park in Laurel(Delaware,that is) We went Friday afternoon and came back today. Nothing says bonding like two nights in the woods. The park is really cool. It is loaded with LONG bike trails. And not to mention Trap pond. So we spent Friday afternoon and all day Saturday biking, fishing, rowboating, and kayaking. Oh, and let's not leave out wearing and consuming large quantities of dirt. We also kept a fire going the whole time, which you can see in the pictures. But since I can't stand the thought of paying for firewood, we scavengered through the woods to find any old logs we could. If it didn't have a pulse, we burned it. We also made all of our meals at camp. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only thing we didn't do is shower. But wait, it gets better. We didn't even change our clothes. Nope, not a piece. Not that we didn't take clean clothes. We just never felt the urge to wear them. Did I mention Linda wasn't there? Without the Queen Mum present dictating proper camping etiquette, we were left to our own devices. It was on. Lord of The Flies, if you will. One example. The camp site we were on was actually on an island that you had to cross a small wooden bridge to get to. The water that the bridge crossed, the boys dubbed "Lugey Lake". (is that how you spell lugey?) Anyway, the logic behind the name? You guessed it. You had to spit one in the water every time you crossed. Oh, and we also took turns spitting into the fire, but that's another story. I'm convinced if we were to stay another day or so, the boys would have broke out the face paint. It was great. But by this morning, we were ready to go home. Two nights of sleeping outside when the temperature gets down to the mid forties makes you appreciate home even more. Anyway, that's the camping trip. Next time we camp is Memorial Day Weekend. Hope everyone's coming. I'll tell the boys no face paint, but I'm not making any promises.

Writer's Block

Well, I've been having the urge to write again, but nothing really inspiring happening right now. I love writing about things that go on in my world, especially as they relate to my family. But it seems like the interesting things that are going on right now, are the same things that happened last year at this time. And I already wrote about them. Baseball season started. Yawn. I opened the pool last weekend. Boring. I developed a strange rash. Really? O.K. I didn't already write about that, nor did I actually develop a rash. But now that I'm thinking about it, I'm kinda wishing I did. The stories I could write about that! Anyway, after explaining my dilemma to my sister (the one who also doesn't write as much as she likes) she said "Well, write about that". "Write about what"? I asked. "The fact that everything is the same and you have nothing new to write about". Brilliant, I thought. And she was right. I just held your attention for a minute or so while you read about nothing. I feel like George Costanza or Jerry Seinfeld. I now have the blog about nothing. I cut the grass. There's a blog post. I brushed my teeth. There's a blog post. I found ointment for my rash. There's several blog posts. I've discovered a whole new avenue of inspiration. Any innocuous thing that happens in my life, I shall write about. (excluding bodily functions, you'll thank me for that later) Now, I realize my posts were borderline nap material before. But using this new tool will drive my blog to a whole new level of mediocrity. You've been warned. A pillow placed strategically on your desk to catch your head as you fall asleep is recommended. In addition, I may also just start making stuff up. If you read that I won the Nobel Peace Prize or was voted Time magazine's "Man Of The Year" well then you know I actually cleaned the flower beds or some other thing that I already wrote about but can't bring myself to write about again. Consider it artistic license. Consider it anything you want. But you have to admit, it could make for some interesting posts. Strange new rash. Now's that's good reading.

Way To Go Matthew!

Just got the word. Matthew was selected to Pop Warner's Scholastic All-American 2nd team! He worked very hard for this. Great job son! This year's banquet is in Chicago. And no, we will not be attending. That's a little far to travel. And expensive. Plus, it's on Memorial Day weekend. I mean we love him and all. But we have camping to do, baseball to play, and pulled pork to eat that weekend! Priorities people! Don't forget to mark your calenders. Anyway, enough of that. Congrats Matthew! We're proud of you!

Some Much Needed Inspiration!

Hey all. I wanted to share something with you I thought you might like. At church today, the founder of our church, Pastor Bill Sammons, shared with us a prayer that Rick Warren originally wrote. It was given a few years ago at the 25th anniversary of Saddleback Church. Now, you may or may not like Rick Warren, but this prayer he wrote is so spot on and so inspiring, well I'm posting it here on the blog, so that should tell you something. I've been wanting to write something for a few weeks now, but haven't had the inspiration. Writer's block, I guess. (not that I'm any kind of writer!) Well, I found my inspiration today. I'd love to take credit for it. It's really good. Anyway, read on if you wish. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!


Today I am stepping across the line. I'm tired of waffling, and I'm finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable. I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now!

I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, "we" over "me," character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most and I'll give it all I've got. I'll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.

I won't be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I'll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won't back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I'll just keep moving forward by God's grace. I'm Spirit-led, purpose-driven, and mission-focused, so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I'm a trophy of God's amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I'm ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Any way. Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I'll hear you say, "Well done, thou good and faithful one. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!"

Gone to the Dark Side

Look at that face. Angelic. The face that could do no wrong. Who could ever stay mad at a face like that? Well, I've got news. The owner of this face, our precious, innocent, little man.... has gone rogue. Yup, it's happened. He's told his first lie. Well, technically not his first, but his first doosey. This lie was of such proportion, required such imagination, and literally several minutes of planning (which, for a four year old, is the longest continuous thought he's ever had)that it warranted a post on the blog so that it can be immortalized forever. This post will probably resurface years from now and cost him a scholarship or that big job promotion, but it makes for good reading now, so he'll have to get over it.

The other day, Aaron asked me to get him down a toy from a high shelf. In hindsight, the fact that the toy he wanted was on a high shelf should have given me a clue, but you know, duh, whatever. You gotta hand it to him. Linda was home, but he didn't ask her to get it down. He knew. "Ask the big dumb one" he probably thought. Anyway, after getting him down the toy he asked for, I went back downstairs. Aaron stayed upstairs to play. Several minutes later, he came downstairs and reported that the carpet by his room was wet, and that Lucy did it.(Lucy is one of our cats) Linda's first thought was that the cat peed on the carpet. Logical first thought considering the problems we've had in that department in the past. So upstairs to investigate. When she got upstairs, she did find wet carpet outside of Aaron's bedroom, but when she leaned over to smell it, no odor. Hmmm... Strange. It was about that time that she noticed the large wet spots on Aaron's shirt and pants. Then she saw the toy that he was playing with. Come to find out, the toy he asked me for was a Hotwheels Car Wash. Yeah, the kind that requires water. So, of course, Linda's first question was, "Who got this down for you?" "Daddy", he replied. Nark. Anyway, now the picture was becoming clearer, so she went to Aaron's bathroom. And what do you know, water everywhere. "Aaron, what did you do?" she asked. "Nothing!" he cried. "Well, where did all the water come from?" She asked. His answer? Wait for it..... "Lucy did it!" Yeah that's what he said. But wait, it gets better. He then proceeded to further implicate Lucy. He told Linda that Lucy was playing in the water, and not only made the mess on the bathroom floor, but then she got water in her mouth, went out into the hallway, and spit it out on the carpet. And he had witnessed it all. Now, either Lucy is possessed by evil cat spirits who like to throw little boys under the bus, or we have a little boy with a wild imagination. I vote the latter. Although an evil cat who goes around getting little boys in trouble would make for even better reading. Anyway, after a long discussion about the pitfalls of lying, he "spilled" his guts. And after some time in the corner, everything went back to normal in Aaron's world. The scary part of this story is that's he's only four. I can't wait to hear the stories he'll tell when he's a teenager. He better hope he's still got that angelic face. It may be his only hope.

TOGA! TOGA!

Wow! Where has January gone? It's gonna be spring before I know it. Well, football is officially over, for this year. We went to the boys' awards banquet last night. Once again, a great night. Collin and Matthew both received trophies for playing and both received the Carl Walls award. That's the scholastic award for maintaining a 93% GPA during the season. On top of that, Matthew was named a Pop Warner Scholastic All-American. That's for a 96% GPA. Much like last year with Collin, we'll find out in April if he's selected first team, second team, or honorable mention. We'll keep you updated.
This year's banquet was a little different. They set up a long table for each team, so all the boys can sit together one last time. This plan had it's pros and cons. Pros: One last hurrah. Talk about the season. And most importantly, don't have to sit with your parents! Cons: Remember the movie Animal House? Yeah. It was just like that. And of course, out of the five football teams and three cheer teams, who's table was the rowdiest? Take a guess. Oh, and a quick math equation for you. Baked potatoes + 10-12 year old boys = projectiles. I don't need to elaborate. And this is before they realized they could help themselves to the coffee. Anyway, great night, great fun, and we didn't have to wear our togas.
One last football note. I'm now the VP of Scholastics for Cape Vikings Pop Warner. It's now my job to determine who qualifies for the scholastic awards that are given. I'll have to review each players report card to see who qualifies. There's only 175 kids. How hard can it be? Yikes!
Nothing else interesting going on. Cut some firewood today. The upstairs heat pump broke last week, so we had to pay to get that fixed. I hate having to do that! Man, I'll be so glad when spring gets here. I'm so done with the cold. Had enough. It was fun while it lasted. Kind of nice around Christmas. But now it's worn out it's welcome. Be gone old man! And besides. Baseball season starts in 45 days!
Woo Hoo!