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!