DOES DADDY STILL LOVE ME?

The Tornado, as mentioned earlier, is going through a period of expanding his independence. One of those steps is wiping your own rear end. Unfortunately, he has no interest in doing this task. Yesterday, after having an "accident" on the bathroom floor, he sat on the toilet and went #2. As I was cleaning up the urine from the floor, he finished and asked me to wipe him. I told him he had to do it himself. He starts bawling, then yelling "Daddy doesn't love me anymore!!!"

I started laughing, as I considered me standing there, mop and paper towels in hand, cleaning up my son's mess while he tells me I don't love him. I assured him that I still do indeed love him, and that it's part of growing up. He sobbed "OK", and did his best.

On a side note - as we were picking the girls up at school, he comes at me with this question,"Hey Dad, why does everyone have eyebrows?" How great are kids? Who thinks of that question? Who knows the answer to that question? Well, I do now, and so does the Tornado! It's to keep sweat out of your eyes, and the shape of the eyebrow diverts sweat and rain to the sides of your face.

So thanks Tornado, I taught you something yesterday and you taught me something yesterday!

BREAKTHROUGH?

The Tornado has been sleeping on our floor for a good year now, thanks to various fears he allegedly has. Am I being tough on him? You bet! Not getting a solid night sleep for 12 months will make you a little grumpy, particularly me, who needs his beauty sleep.

Two nights ago, for about the third time in that year, we decided to stand firm on him sleeping in his room. AAAANNNNDD????? He did it!! Last night?? He did it!! He's been a joy the last two days as well, more energy, more smiles, the little guy I've know for 4 and a half years. We played baseball and tennis yesterday "Dad, I'm gonna be a sports man when I get big", and had fun doing it.

Hopefully he can keep it up, face his fears, and be the fun loving guy I know he is going forward. With only 6 months left until he starts school, I want to enjoy each day with him!

OUR BLESSED FAMILY

A friend of mine lost his wife yesterday to cancer. They have two little kids, that won't have their Mom to see them grow now.

During the course of everyday life, I get frustrated with the kids (like the Tornado wetting himself and continuing to play video games without telling anyone), or maybe the Boss is getting a little testy and it makes me uneasy.

However, I do know what a beautiful family we have, and how special a life we have. I say thank you every day for my family, as it is everything to me. We are truly blessed.

BE LIKE CHRIST

Today was the Knights of Columbus free throw shooting contest, held at St. Francis. You compete against people your same age, and the ages run from 10-14.


O finished in a first place tie with one of her friends after their 15 free throws. So that led to each girl having to shoot 5 extra shots. Both girls made 3 of their 5, and so a second extra session of 5 shots. O made her first 3, then just missed the next 2. Her friend came up, and missed her first 2 shots, made one, then missed the next, leaving O as the winner.


I'm proud of O for her performance, she shot well, but more importantly she looked composed and in control, a trait she is displaying more and more as she is met with new challenges.


I'm even more proud of her for something she did after the contest. O went up to the person running the contest to collect her certificate for winning her division. After receiving hers, she asked the guy if her friend could also get a winner's certificate. The man said no, but that's kind of beside the point. The St. Francis motto is Be Like Christ. And while sometimes you wonder what the heck the kids are thinking, they have beautiful hearts. This was one such example, and I got some pretty good warm fuzzies seeing her make such a gesture.


Congrats O, on a super job today!

BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE NEW YEAR

We closed out 2009 at the homestead with some friends, watching The Hangover, and a crazy dude jumping a car off a bridge before seeing the ball drop. 2009 was a great year, I think. We had some wonderful times together, the girls did well in school, our trip to Atlantis was fun, we added Cooper to the family, Big O made the basketball team, a fun trip to the Poconos, Bushkill Falls, NYC, and many more fun moments.

We lost Morgan in 2009, and he is missed, but his memories will stay with us forever.

The CEO and I announced our 2010 trip to the kids. A 5000 mile (holy cow - did I just say 5000 miles!!) 18 state trip around the midwest and mountain west. We are going to see 8 different baseball stadiums, Mount Rushmore, and I'm sure countless other wonderful sights. The kids seemed pretty into it, and I'm sure as it gets closer they will get more and more interested in the different places we will be visiting. We hope to have them research the cities and give some input into what they would like to see. It should be fun putting all the pieces together.

Today they went back to school. O said "I'll be in middle school next year" as she was putting her jacket on. It was as if she realized subconsciously just how quickly the time is flying by.

Here's to a great 2010 and another year of beautiful memories!!

GAME TWO OF SFX SEASON

A nailbiter from start to finish. I'm having a hard time getting used to having a team that has so much trouble scoring, hopefully we'll improve on that as the season wears on. But this game vs St. Andrews was exciting for it's closeness if not for it's high level of play.

We held a 3 point lead with about a minute left, then completely fell apart on defense, allowing two uncontested layups. We managed to get to the line for 4 free throws in the last 20 seconds, missing the first three. With one shot left to tie the game, our starting PG made the shot. That sent the game into OT, where I pulled Big O and her replacement hit the game winning jumper.

So we got a W, in my first overtime game in 6 years of coaching at SFX. Very exciting!