Ya Happy Now?

Due to harassment from a certain family member, I'm blogging again, but this time with a broken finger. (Thanks KB!) 

Yes, I know.  My last post was in March. But really, there hasn't been much to talk about. With the exception of baseball season, going to Disneyworld, winning a baseball tournament, breaking my finger, and oh yeah, giving birth to a three year old girl, there hasn't been much to write about.  Anyway, the picture below is the "proof" I was required to show.  If you look close you'll see that little piece of bone kind of floating out there.  That's supposed to be attached. The ligament from the tip of my finger ripped out from the next bone up and took a piece of the bone with it.  Hopefully when I go back to the doctor next week, it will be healing properly.  If it's not, than I will have to have surgery on it. That would suck.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I know it's short, but it's getting late so get over it!

Talk to you soon. Maybe!



Spring is Here

Well, here we are again. Another spring approaching. And Mike talking about, you guessed it, baseball season! Oh well. When your life revolves around your kids' sports seasons, that's the way it goes. Some interesting news, though. I was only going to manage Aaron's T-ball team this season and just assistant coach whatever team Matthew got drafted to. When one of the major league teams became available this year, they asked me to manage it. I declined. Only because Matthew really wanted to try to get on another team. So I told them that I was just going to go where Matthew goes and coach there. But I also told them if they couldn't find anyone else and there won't be a Cubs team because of it, I would do it. Well, do I really have to tell you what happens next? I got the call on Monday. "Uh, Mike? Tryouts are Saturday and we don't have a manager for the Cubs." Fast forward to this morning, Collin, Matthew and I were at tryouts evaluating prospects for the 2012 Cubs. It's all good. Must be part of the plan. The only thing that stinks is the Cubs came in second place last season (they lost the championship game to Collin, myself and the Braves!) so they get second to last pick in the draft this year. And when I say they, I now mean me. There is some pretty decent talent coming up this year, so it won't be too bad. Of course, this is the view from behind my rose colored glasses. We'll see how not too bad it is come June!

Just a quick side note. Just a peak into a Saturday night at the Mattia house. Aaron is playing NCAA 12 football on the Xbox while I'm sitting on the couch writing this. After a play, he says, "I'm gonna go medieval on your hiney!" Meanwhile, Collin is on the love seat across from me. On his laptop he is typing in words on some Google program that speaks whatever you say. A very monotone sounding female says, "Aaron, you smell like pooh". "Aaron picks his nose". Ahh, who says technology has killed good quality family time?

Anyway, in other news, Collin and Matthew both were selected "Distinguished Students" for their scores on Delaware Comprehensive tests, or something like that. Whatever it was, they scored high on it and are being recognized, along with a bunch of other brainiacs, by the school board on Monday evening.

We found out yesterday that Collin was selected to the National Junior Honor Society. Now he's got to keep his grades up and do some community service hours. Should look good on a college application, though. Super proud!

Had a really good time a couple of weeks ago seeing everyone. Can't wait for the next one. Still waiting for some pictures to be posted on someone else's blog! By the way, I did not take anyone else's doggy bag. Great idea though. If I were smart enough to think of it myself, I might have done it. Good food will make you do strange things! Anyway, please let us know when and where the next one is. Doesn't matter to us.

Talk to you soon.

I'm Back!

Alright. I'm back. Sorry it's been soooo long. Just haven't had the urge to write. Had some stuff to write about, just not the gumption. Or gumtion. One of the two. Whatever it is, I lacked it. But I'm here now, so here goes.

Christmas was GREAT! Loved having everyone over to celebrate. Enjoyed all the food (shocking, I know) and especially loved the gift exchange thingy. Can't remember the exact name right now. I think it was a Yankee gift exchange, but I'm not positive. Whatever it was called, it was fun. I was going to write another poem like I did last year, but I never did. Oh well.

The new year is going well. Work is a little slow, but it always is this time of year. It will pick up soon. I say it's going well, because I'm one of the only ones who hasn't gotten sick. The stomach bug that is going around arrived at the Mattia house last Saturday night. Aaron, as luck would have it, was sleeping in our bed. I was ripped from a dead sleep to the sound of Aaron crying "Daddy!!" No sooner did I frantically sit up, then he cried "Daddy!" one more time and ralphed all over me, the bed, the floor and the nightstand. It was fantastic. My first reaction, still being not even completely awake yet, was to put my hand over his mouth and run for the bathroom. Well, that didn't work out too well. You know when your using a hose without a spray nozzle on it, and you put your thumb over the opening to make it spray farther? Well, there ya go. No need to elaborate. Then, as if that wasn't enough. After he was done puking, he looks up and says, "I need to poop!" At this point I had already stripped him down because he had barfed all over his pajamas. So I hurry and sit him on the toilet and let those fireworks commence. Not even a minute later, he cries out again. "I gotta puke!" So I hurry and wipe his butt and and put him back in "worshipping the porcelain god" position, so he can finish what he had started earlier. Well, this back and forth routine went on for the next fifteen minutes or so. And all the while I'm standing there with puke all over me still. At that point Linda walks in. She already wasn't feeling well earlier, and this put her over the edge. She runs in the other bathroom and proceeds in the same manner as Aaron just did. Wow! What a night! And the worst part was we were planning to have a special Superbowl dinner with tacos and pizza and then watch the big game. Well, those plans were done. And poor Aaron. He was already on an antibiotic for an ear infection before all this. He couldn't take his medicine for two days because he couldn't keep it down. So we had to take him back to the doctor to start his antibiotic all over again. And this time, he also has an eye infection, so he also gets drops for his eyes. Poor kid, I felt so bad for him. I told him that if he wanted a pony, right now would be a good time to ask for one!

Now fast forward one week. Everyone is better. Not counting the fact that Aaron's antibiotic gave him diarrhea. Go figure. So last night we go to Matthew's banquet for Pop Warner. All the players sit together and the parents sit at separate tables. Matthew's table had already gotten their food and we were just sitting down with ours when one of his teammates runs up to our table. "Coach Mattia! Matthew just puked!" Ding! Ding! Let round two begin! So I go get him and take him to the bathroom to clean up. After that we leave to go back home. He was so embarrassed. We told him don't worry about it. This will be one of those stories you'll tell for years to come. "One time, I threw up at my football banquet!" Plus, these are all football players. They barf at practice all the time. it's no big deal. Heck, they all went right back to eating not even five minutes after Matthew did it! I was supposed to be up on stage calling out the names of all the kids who qualified for Scholastic All-American (including Matthew!) but under the circumstances, the President of the league gave me a pass. After we got home, I decided to go back and see if I could still do my job. Turns out I wasn't too late to announce some names. The only reason I mention this is because when I'm announcing and I get to Matthew's name, just for fun I ask "Has anyone seen Matthew? The same boy who came running up to tell us Matthew was sick yells out "I saw him puke!" Too funny. Anyway, Matthew apparently has a different bug or something because he's feeling better now. Only twenty four hours later.

Report cards were good. Collin and Matthew both made honor roll. Aaron did well too but they don't give out actual grades in kindergarten.

Izzy is doing well. By well, I mean large. Nine months and seventy-five pounds. Poor guy gets "altered" on Wednesday. I took him to a local retirement home a couple of weeks ago to continue our goal to have him be a therapy dog. The residents love him! So does the staff. They told me to bring him back after his surgery for another visit. We're hoping the "altering" will calm him down some. Easier to keep training that way. Plus no one wants to see a seventy-five pound golden humping grandma in the middle of a game of bingo. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't get invited back!

Well, that's all for now. Talk to you in another two months! Just kidding!

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!