Summer Is Unofficially Here

Around here the wheat is turning from green to gold, the corn is knee high and the farmers are mowing hay and preparing the ground to set tobacco. With Memorial Day here I guess we can say summer has begun even though it is still technically a month away.

THE SOCCER FINALE. Our soccer season came to a close on Saturday. Both the kids had to play a make-up game Thursday evening. Ben’s season lasted one game longer than Jenna’s and his last game was Saturday. He even scored a goal!

Ben played on a good team this year and I really saw him make some progress. They had a successful season. I overheard some of the referees comment after Ben’s team would play that they had seen the best game of the day. Ben is really getting a feel for playing the different positions and he is staying on his feet after kicking the ball a lot more than he used to. The lesson that’s been hard for them to learn is to spread out as one of the players drive the ball forward.

Jenna’s poor team finished a completely defeated season. Her age division plays seven on seven and they were only having seven players show up for their games while many times the opposing team would have 12-14 present. By half time Jenna and her teammates would be so tired and discouraged that you had to give them credit for going back out to endure the second half of a sound beating without complaint. I had to admire their coach for being so supportive of the kids.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. Our weekend was pretty quiet. I spent a lot of my free time Saturday and today doing yard work and Vicki covered similar bases in the house. We went swimming yesterday afternoon and had a good time together. Jenna went swimming again today as one of her friends had a birthday party. This evening we grilled hamburgers at Pauline’s. Mom and Aunt Mar came over and we had a good time talking out on the deck. It was really nice to slow down and unwind this weekend.

WHAT A SHOT. Jenna has inherited my aim. I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a rock from twenty feet if my life depended on it. Those of you who grew up with me know that one should stay well behind me when playing horseshoes (and even then I might hit you over my shoulder).

Every night after finishing supper Jenna attempts to hit the trash can with her wadded up napkin. This has been going on for months and she is rarely lucky. Last night, after several failed attempts, Ben wadded up his napkin, took aim and shot. Had it been a basketball it would have been nothing but net. The look of mock disgust on Jenna’s face was a classic! And yes, Vicki and I laughed at her expense.

PLEASE PRAY. Our friends, Brent and Cindy Roycroft, have been going through the adoption process for the last 16 months. We were so excited a few weeks ago when they announced the impending arrival of a son. They were supposed to fly to Seattle yesterday. They received a call on Friday afternoon and it doesn’t appear that it will work out for this baby. They are crushed and we hurt for them. We know they will make wonderful parents someday. Please pray that it will be soon.

Joe

Winding Up the School Year

If I were Jenna’s age right now tomorrow would be one of the best days of the year. That’s because summer vacation starts the moment she steps off the bus!

END OF SCHOOL FUN. Jenna has had a wonderful year. We couldn’t have asked for a better teacher and she has made several good new friends. These last days have included lots of fun activities. She went to CiCi’s pizza as a reward for her 100+ Accelerated Reader points (only 6 of the 100 2nd graders achieved this). Her reading accomplishments also rewarded her with a movie party and extra recess. 2nd/3rd Grade Field Day was also a highlight. All the kids enjoyed many games and inflatable activities. (The 3 days of Field Day also marked Vicki’s last hurrah as PTO Volunteer Coordinator this year...and yes, she has agreed to serve another year.)

Speaking of getting out of school, Vicki and I were thinking about it this afternoon and realized that the kindergarten students she taught her first year at Bransford Elementary are graduating this year!

OUR GRADUATE. Ben is now an alumnus of the Mt. Carmel Mother’s Day Out program. They had a little ceremony Friday at lunch complete with matching t-shirts, baseball caps with tassels and certificates. The MDO Class of ‘06 was recognized again Sunday morning at church with each child receiving a Bible. Ben is proud of his Bible and insists on reading from it every day.

A NEW DISCOVERY. Ben and I went over to Aunt Mar’s the other day. I dropped him off at the mailbox to get the paper and drove on up to the house. Ben tried to race me up to the house. When he got to the house he breathlessly declared, “Dad, now I know that trucks and vans are faster than little boys.”

NOW WHERE’S THAT FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH? Nate spent the night with Mom and Aunt Mar on Friday. At one point he started looking at Aunt Mar’s hands and asked about the veins that are visible through her skin. Aunt Mar explained to him that they were there because she is getting old. Full of concern he said to her, “We gotta go to the doctor!’ He repeated this several times as he was serious about getting Aunt Mar to the doctor.

PLAY BALL! While Nate was spending time with Mom and Aunt Mar the rest of us went to a Nashville Sounds baseball game. Jenna had made a home run in a reading program at school and all those kids were given a free ticket to a game compliments of Ozzie (their mascot--a tiger). Vicki scored 3 more free tickets for all her volunteer efforts at school. East Robertson was well represented and several of Jenna’s friends sat around us. They had a great time talking, laughing , cheering, and practicing their hand-clapping rhymes. When Ben was still, he enjoyed watching the bats fly around eating bugs. We all got a kick out of one bat who checked out a fly ball and quickly decided it was not edible. The Sounds won after coming back in the 7th, and we were all rewarded with a fantastic fireworks show after the game. All the kids who stuck it out this long were invited to run the bases. Jenna and Ben thought this was cool. We had a late night run to Krystal (the only appropriate time of day for such a run) and then finally hit the beds at midnight. The kids will remember this evening for a long time to come. They are anxious to go back as well as Vicki. As for myself, I still like hot dogs, apple pie, and my Chevy truck.

Joe

Celebrating Moms

May always brings very pleasant weather for us. It is rare that we need to run the heat at this time of the year. This May is an exception to that rule. Since everyone around here is commenting on the coolness of the season I figured I’d mention it for the record.

MOM’S BIRTHDAY. Mom celebrated her birthday this past Friday. We took her out to eat at the Catfish House Tuesday evening and the boys and I went out with her to Cracker Barrel Friday evening.

I’m sort of patting myself on the back for the present I gave Mom as she seems genuinely happy to get it. Mom has lots of pictures that she took during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The bad thing is that most of them are slides (we’re talking hundreds of slides). I have been on the lookout for a scanner that does a decent job with slides and acquired one a few months ago. Since then I snuck Mom’s slides to my house and started to work. I managed to get about 400 shots scanned in and create a DVD with simple slideshows. Now she can pop in the disc and see pictures from about 1965 forward. Around 1956 Mom got a once in a lifetime chance to spend a month in Europe visiting Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob while the Army had Uncle Bob stationed there. These slides are next on the list.

MOTHER’S DAY. I had to push Aunt Mar in church yesterday! During the service Bro. Bill asked everyone who is not a mother to stand. Aunt Mar was sitting behind me and out of the corner of my eye I saw her start to rise. I turned around and put my hand on her shoulder to make her sit back down and told her she had been a mom to too many people in the family for her to stand. After church we all went to Pauline’s for lunch and enjoyed spending part of the afternoon together.

The kids got Vicki some perfume she’s been wanting and I got her a hummingbird feeder. Nate, who has slightly misunderstood the name of the bird, thinks I filled the feeder with honey. Ben keeps checking the window every day to see if we have any new customers. I keep telling him it will take a week or two for the birds to discover the feeder (and at these temperatures it will be longer) but he keeps a watch none the less.

BEN: SOCCER AND SCHOOL. This Saturday the soccer games were so spread out Vicki and I divided the duty. I didn’t see Jenna’s game but I hear they were slaughtered. Ben’s team did really well and he is becoming a great defensive man. I have never before seen him as focused on his game as he was Saturday. He did let a few balls get by him but he was paying attention and right in there playing his position. I was really proud of him.

One thing that slipped my mind about Ben last week was kindergarten registration. Our school system began the registration process for next year’s kindergarten students a week ago Friday and Vicki went to school to fill out the paperwork. Ben has Mom’s Day Out on Friday and was very concerned that Vicki was not taking him. He finally consented to go to MDO as long as Vicki made sure she told them at school that he couldn’t be there because he was at another school.

Looking at things now we are so glad we didn’t send Ben to kindergarten last year even though he was just barely old enough. He simply wasn’t ready last year and this time to mature has made all the difference. Ben seems to be a lot like me in his attitudes about things and I hope this will help him to have a better experience throughout school than I did. Yesterday Lori Swann asked Ben if he was ready for school. For the first time I’ve seen, he answered yes.

SLEEP OVER. Jenna’s GA group had a sleep over Friday night. (In a Baptist church Girls In Action or GAs is a missions organization for elementary age girls. The equivalent organization for boys are the Royal Ambassadors or RAs.) They went swimming at the YMCA, ate at Pizza Hut and came back to church to play games and have fun. In spite of all the fun, lights went out at 1:00 am and not a minute too soon. Vicki went as one of the chaperones and reported that everyone, including Jenna, had a blast.

FAN CLUB. So Jenna is playing a game on the computer and Ben is watching her. He really gets into the action when Jenna plays, telling her to go in a particular direction or watch out for for some danger. Jenna must have done something really impressive because we hear Ben exclaim, “Oh baby, I like your style!”

PRAYER MONOPOLY. One night this week when we were having our family devotion Nate was asked if he wanted to pray first. He usually turns this down but this time he agreed. In his prayer he covered “flamily,” friends, toys, school, etc. When he got done Vicki asked him to pick who would pray next. He said “me” and repeated his prayer. We finally stopped him after about the fourth time as we all had a case of the giggles.

Joe

A Tennessee Derby Life

It’s that time of year when the days are pleasant, spring showers are frequent and it’s still cool enough at night to have to run the heat. Between activities at church, two soccer schedules and mowing three yards we stay pretty busy. It makes me glad nothing has invaded Sunday afternoons.

BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS. I have never seen a bunch of birds go through a feeder full of seed like the birds in our yards do. I think I’m refilling that thing three times a week! We have quite a menagerie. Yesterday morning I was in the kitchen and had the distinct feeling I was being watched. I turned to look out the window only to face the disapproving stare of a hummingbird hovering right at eye level. (Don’t ask me how a bird can give you that kind of look--you just have to see it.) I guess we’ll have to get a feeder for them too.

A FIRST FOR NATE. While Nate has spent the night with Pauline plenty of times we’ve never let him stay with Mom and Aunt Mar because we knew they couldn’t lift him. All that changed Friday night and he came home Saturday talking about what a good time he had with them. Aunt Mar said she got up early Saturday morning and couldn’t see Nate in his bed so she went to find him. She didn’t have to go too far as he was in their living room, surrounded by toys, playing quietly.

ONE FULL WEEKEND. It all started Friday night with a double date with Brent and Cindy Roycroft. We went to see Mission Impossible III (which is a lot better than the first two flicks in the series) and then went out to eat at The Depot. We hadn’t been out with them in quite a while and enjoyed their company.

The next morning the kids had soccer games. I had to miss out on this to get the yards mowed but Vicki and Mom said they played really well. I had planned to do most of my mowing during the week but between work, rain and soccer practices I never got it in. I gave Nate a ride on the mower while they were gone which made his day (and explains the doughnut tire marks in Pauline’s driveway--zero turn mowers can be a lot of fun that way).

That evening our Sunday school class had a [Kentucky] Derby party at Rick and Sharon Robinson’s house (they teach the class). We all put in a dollar and drew a number as our “horse bet." We were all hoping our pastor would draw Sinister Minister, but it didn’t work out that way. Our youth minister won the $21 pot. As her winning horse crossed the finish line, her husband said, “This marks the beginning of my wife’s gambling problem.” The Robinsons just moved into their house a few months ago and it sure is pretty. This was the first time our class had done anything in a long time. It was nice to get together and have a good time.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK. So we’re getting ready to head out the door for soccer games. Ben announces that he’s ready and will wait outside. Vicki gives him the okay and then calls him back to use the bathroom. His reply, “Aw, man! You got me before I could escape.”

Nate’s memorable remarks come from the breakfast table. At present his favorite cereal is “Ice Kiss-a-peas” (Rice Krispies). He also like Honey Buzzers (the generic version of Honey Combs) which I have misunderstood and gotten everyone to call “Honey Buzzards.”

Vicki has been at Jenna’s school several times this week to help out. At the end of one day she went to recess with Jenna. A little boy came by and spoke to them. Vicki asked Jenna what his name was. She said, “Anthony, he likes me.” When Vicki asked what she meant, she said, “He is my friend, (blush) not like a ‘kissing’ friend or anything.”

Joe

The Downhill Run

The TCAP exams are over and we have three and a half weeks of school left. Teachers and students are anxiously counting the days until summer freedom. In the fields around us the corn is sprouting and farmers are preparing their tobacco ground for tobacco setting in a few weeks.

KIDS PICK UP FAR MORE THAN YOU THINK. I am constantly amazed at how much stuff our kids pick up. The other day the boys and I were cleaning the leaves out from under our back porch (I put this job off until springtime because I have to crawl under the porch to do this job which isn’t so fun on a cold, wet, fall day). We loaded all the leaves up in the truck and dumped them in the brush pile next to the chicken house. After unloading I was driving across the field to park the truck. Nate was sitting in the cab with me. Looking out the window he gave me this friendly warning: “Don’t hit those apple trees there Dad.” I was amazed that he even knew they were apple trees.

The other day Ben was with me when I stopped to buy gas. After starting to pump the gas Ben asks, “Dad, are you going to get the squeegee to clean all the bug guts off the windshield?” Obviously he knows what the tool is but I can’t recall talking about a squeegee in front of him. I certainly didn’t know the name of that thing when I was a kid.

Where Ben came up with this one I’ll never know but he commented to Vicki one day while riding down the road, “Man! They need to mow. Their grass is as tall as a can of beans.”

SOCCER SATURDAYS. I haven’t mentioned soccer as much this year as I have in the past but we are about half way through the season already. I really like Jenna’s coach. He seems to have a real passion for the game and wants kids to learn to love to play. But he’s not a “winning is everything” kind of coach. This is a good thing as Jenna’s team seems to have more than its share of inexperienced players. Yesterday’s game was about the most evenly matched game I’ve seen so far. I’m sure this is an exaggeration but I’d almost swear that Jenna’s team never played anything but defense a couple of weeks ago.

Ben’s team is a little better but at his age they still tend to play “herd ball” rather than sticking to assigned positions. They do have a couple of girls on his team who can really handle the ball. Ben is starting to get the hang of the game as he is learning to be at the right place at the right time. Now if we could just get him to quit falling down whenever he kicks the ball....

A DAY WITH GIRLFRIENDS. Jenna had a late birthday celebration with three of her friends on Saturday. She invited Vicki, Ben and me to go along as well. The outing began with lunch at Burdett’s Tea Room. (I told Ben that we were really outnumbered being the only two guys in the whole place. He agreed saying, “Yeah, and I counted 81 tea cups on the shelf along the wall.”) After lunch we walked to the movie theatre to see Curious George (see review below) and then went home to allow the girls to play and eat pizza. I think Jenna and her guests had a great afternoon.

CURIOUS GEORGE HITS THE BIG SCREEN. If you’ll put yourself in a child’s frame of mind and treat the kid in you you’ll enjoy this movie. The animation is well drawn and the dialogue is clean. There are several jokes in the script for the adults but nothing remotely crude (the people who wrote Shrek and Madagascar should take note that this can be done). If I thought Nate would sit still long enough I’d go back with him.

Joe