The Knights of Columbus hosts a free throw shooting contest every year, ages 10-14. Big O decided to compete in it, and we went to SFX for the local level contest. They shot 15 free throws, and O olny made 6. She's a much better shooter than that, so she was kind of bummed. Her friend Sarah was the last in her age group to shoot, and made 6, so O and Sarah had to have a 5 shot shoot off. O went first, made her first three, then missed 2. Sarah missed her first two, then made her last 3. Another 5 shots. O made 3 again. Sarah made her 2 of the first 4, then rimmed out her final one to make O the winner.

On to Sarasota and the regional competition. She did great - 17 of 25!! Great shooting O, and on to the state finals! One of the cool things was Dick Cunningham was at this contest, he played on the 1971 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks with Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson - the original Big O!

There were a lot of people at the state competition, not just shooters, but family members. The first girl in O's age group went out and knocked down 17 free throws. Again O was the last shooter of the group, and 17 was still the number to beat. She knocked down the first three, and looked good. Then she shot an air ball, and seemed to get rattled. Missing 3 more in a row, she never got her groove back, and finished with 12. That was good for 3rd place! It was a great experience, she had fun with her friend Caroline who was in the next age group up.

It was fun watching her shoot, and a neat time for everyone :) We were so proud of her!

The King

Sadly, we are still teaching the Tornado how to go to the bathroom. He knows how to go, but unfortunately, he still relies on us to clean his back side afterwards. He gives it a try, but then we have to do the rest.

Last week he called me to come in and wipe his rear after going to the bathroom. As I was walking in, he yells for me to stop, he wants Mommy to do it instead. Then he yells for her to stop, and drops this one on us. "Mommy and Daddy race in to wipe my heiny!"

How secure with yourself, how high must your self-esteem be, if you think people are going to race to wipe your rear end? I mean really, is it that much of a treat that I would race someone else to complete that task?

She's Making Up her Own Mind Now??

Soccer season at SFX started in early March, and Big O wanted to play. She's also playing travel hoops, and doing a number of other things at school, and of course her school work. Some of her soccer practices or games are on the same day as her travel hoop practices, so she would be pretty beat should she do both.

I was willing to let her try it, while the CEO was kind of against it. So the CEO and I talked, after the CEO had talked to O and told her no, then I told the CEO I would tell O we didn't want her to play. The CEO was shocked "you think just because you tell her not to she'll listen?" You're darn right she'll listen, she's my baby. I'm her compass, I'm her guiding light, I'm her voice of reason. She looks to me, she trusts me, she knows I know her.

I walk into her room, and tell O that her Mom and I talked, and we think it's best that she sits this one out. O asked why, and I gave her reasons for being overscheduled, focusing on her homework, getting the right sleep, things like that. She looked and listened intently, she understood. Her big hazel eyes looked right into mine, and cracked a little smile. Then came her response - "I still want to play". Umm, WHAT??? Were you not listening to my impeccable logic? I'm your light, your compass, remember?

I turned and walked back into my bedroom, tail between my legs. I told the CEO that O still wanted to play. This put the CEO in a tough position. I had been humbled, she always gets a kick out of that. But O still wanted to play, which was against her wishes.

The three of us got together and chatted it out, and decided that she could play. As it turns out, it's been fine as practices have only run into each other a couple times. She's having fun playing on the school team with her friends.

It was hard letting her make the decision herself, particularly when it was counter to what we had suggested. But I guess it's things like this that we have to let her decide, to hone her decision making skills. It's not going to be easy, I can tell you that. But she's a good kid and a smart kid, and hopefully the good ones far outnumber the bad.

She's No Sherlock Holmes

The Big O was going to Target with her mother the other day and was looking for her wallet. She had a decent amount of money in there thanks to Christmas presents and had her eye on some things at the store. They were preparing to leave and O couldn't find the wallet. The CEO gave her a lecture about being responsible, yada yada yada.

They left for the store without the wallet, and O wasn't able to spend her money. She was very upset, partly with herself I'm sure, but partly because she wasn't able to get anything.

The next morning she was still looking for the wallet, and the CEO had helped her some as well. I asked where they had looked, the CEO said everywhere inside and in her car. Now, we all know how lazy men are when looking for something. But hey, I figured I'd try to help. I walk out t the car first, open the door on the passenger side, bend over and open the glovebox. HELLO WALLET!!

I walk back in the house, find O, and hand it to her. I get a thanks Daddy, and a hug from her. The CEO comes downstairs, sees that I found it, and asked where it was. I told her in the glovebox. Instead of a "hey thanks", or a "that's weird, I looked in there", I got a "why did you put it in there when we went to the game the other day, no wonder I couldn't find it"!!!

Oh to be a Dad :)

He Was a Good Dog

The family was visiting my friend Rob and his family back in January for the evening. Rob started asking the Tornado questions about his life, etc. Then he asked, "How's Cooper, your new dog?"

After a little pause, the Tornado said, "I miss Morgan, he was a good dog." Then he paused again and said, "Morgan only liked to play some of the time when he wanted to play, Cooper likes to play all the time."

It was just nice to know that he remembers Morgan, that he wasn't too little to have memories of him. It was nice to know Morgan was his buddy too.

Let's have a Picnic

Why are kids so smart? Last week the Tornado and I were getting lunch ready and he suggested we go outside and eat "have a picnic" he said. So we did. What a treat. A sunny day with a nice breeze blowing, we sat outside and talked, watched

the squirrels and birds go by.

A great time with my buddy. Why did it take so long for us to give that a try?

The Cracker Barrel

One morning not too long ago, the whole gang went out for breakfast in between basketball games. We went to a Cracker Barrel, almost always a hit with the kids.

One of the great things about the Bear is her generosity, she's always quick to share something, even if it comes with conditions. Well, on this day, we got to see both the Bear and the Tornado at their best.

The Tornado had plowed through his breakfast, except for his applesauce. Bear had not gotten through all of her breakfast, and had a couple of bacon slices left. The Tornado asked Bear for one, she said she would give him one if he ate his applesauce. The CEO and I had said nothing about eating applesauce, this was her way of controlling him and the situation. And she wonders why he says she's always bossing him around.

Well, the Tornado isn't so easily corralled. He knows what the Bear's biggest weakness is, and it's her disgust of others' bodily fluids. He's thrown up on her more than once, each time pushing her into hysterics. Then there was the peeing episode. But I digress.

He agrees to each the applesauce in exchange for a slice of bacon, and picks up the spoon. He sniffs the sauce, and makes a face. She persists that she isn't going to give him the bacon until he eats the applesauce. A titanic clash of wills was occurring right before our eyes. She's waving the bacon, just shy of his face. He's holding a spoonful of applesauce, also just shy of his mouth. She doesn't think he's going to crack, and is almost now laughing at his weakness, or is it toughness to not give in??

Finally, he plunges the spoon into his mouth and efforts to swallow the applesauce. Then came his checkmate move. He turns and faces Bear, and begins to gag on the applesauce. Not a full out gag, but a slow, growing gag, each thrust louder and longer than the last. Quickly the Bear was heading for the bathroom to prevent a possible mess at the table, and the Tornado was finishing the one spoonful of applesauce and snatching up the piece of coveted bacon.

Well played little one, well played.

Not up to Par

So I get called in to the school office one day about a month ago. The school secretary wants to know if I am available to substitute for one of the 6th grade math teachers. I had subbed for middle school math before, and O had this particular teacher before too, so she knows the kind of work our family produces.

I said OK, and came home. Later that day I got a call saying that this teacher, Mrs. Zell, decided that she would rather choose her own sub instead of having me take the class. REALLY?? Are you serious Mrs. Zell?

As it turned out I went in to sub for a different teacher on the same day, lo and behold, Mrs. Zell was there! I saw her and told her I was subbing for the 8th grade english teacher, thanks for asking.

I can't imagine why some of these teachers have a tough time getting along with parents :)

DOUBLE BYE!!!!!

Every morning when the ladies leave for work and school, the Tornado heads out to the driveway to send them on their way. He usually is sporting a t-shirt, crocs, underpants, and...that's it. Needless to say he looks a little silly.

As the car pulls away, he starts waving furiously with both hands "byyyyeeeeee, double byyyeeee, love youuuuuu, you my best friend, love youuu, double byeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

There can't be a better way to start the day then having that image and sound in your head as your venture into the world and it's challenges, can there?

The Bad News Falcons??

The St. Francis season came to a close the first week of February, and what a season it was. Between sharing a practice court with three other teams, playing 15 players an equal amount every game, and only having 4 other teams in the league this year, there were some adjustments to make.

It was the first time in years I've coached a team that collectively couldn't give a hoot if they won the game or not. They didn't really seem interested in even playing to be truthful. There were some girls that were interested and played real hard, but with this many kids, half of whom were more interested in who is crushing on them and vice versa, the basketball was pretty rough.

Interestingly though, the team scratched and clawed to a 4-3 record. We played 5 blowouts, 2 on the plus side, and squeaked out two other wins. Ultimately I think the girls had fun, I know some of them learned some good stuff, as did I. Another successful season in the Suncoast League!