Saturday, March 28, 2009

Happy 11th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary, Demi! Sorry to be away for the weekend.

That's right, I will be away for my wedding anniversary. To attend a bachelor party no less. Bold. By all rights, I should probably be sleeping in the dog house. But Demi is good like that. She's very understanding. And updating the score tally as we speak........

Friday, March 20, 2009

Dad and Coco Weekend

This weekend is all about Dad and Coco. Demi and Caz are off to NY to see Nanny Lil. Coco had too extensive a social calendar to make the trip to NY. The kid does have quite the social life. I am looking forward to some one on one time with Coco. We have a lot planned. I think we will do a quick dinner out and a movie one night. Maybe cook in and watch March Madness the next night. When I asked Coco if he wanted to cook his chili, he answered, "Yes." And then he added, "I want to make my mac and cheese too. We are going to feast!" That is my boy!
Not only are we going to have fun, but we are going to get our chores done too. We are going to clean around the house. Coco is going to get his Thank Yous from his birthday done. Got to have that balance. It's not going to be just a frat party. I mean there will be eating, scratching, and body noises, but you know.....all work and now play makes Jack a dull boy.

Skis and Snowboards

I felt the need to report back that the kids first ski/snowboard weekend was a great success. The boys took snowboarding lessons at Wildcat in the morning. We got to the mountain early and fitted them with all the equipment. One thing that struck me was the amount of skiers wearing helmets, including a large majority of the adults. At least the general public showed some sign of intelligence. That doesn't happen to often, so I do feel compelled to note it and relish it a bit.
Coco picked up the board pretty quickly and could get down the small incline first. But he could only go straight. He had a hard time turning. Caz didn't take to it quite as quickly, but I will give him a lot of credit. He didn't give up and kept at it. By the end of the lesson, he was ready to go up the lift and try a novice trail. After lunch Demi took Caz up the lift. I stayed on the incline to work with Coco. He tried one run down off the lift with Demi but it didn't go to well. So we switched him over to skis. He seemed to do much better with those.
But this day was one of those days that parents face a large challenge. The decision to cut some apron strings and let your child grow up, is not an easy one. I could feel the enormity of my decision as it was looming and as I decided upon my course of action. Caz came down the trail after his first run. He seemed to be doing OK and wanted to go back up the lift. Demi and Coco were no where in sight. So I asked Caz to be patient a bit. We waited together. I asked him about his run and how far back Mom and Coco were. He said Coco was falling a bit and not too far behind. I waited a bit longer but I really felt that Caz was ready to go up the lift. So I sent him. I told him that Mom would be right behind him. When Demi got down, Caz was passing just over head on the lift. She was not happy. Apparently Caz had been a bit out of control and had trouble stopping during the run. He "almost when out of bounds and over a cliff". I am sure it was scary and the fact that I made a monumental decision on my own probably factored into it. I sent her right back up the lift, not too far behind Caz. I took Coco to get his skis and work with him a bit. It turned out that Caz was fine. He was up lift and down the mountain on this own the rest of the day. Our time spent hiking in the past had paid off. He was able to follow all the trail markers correctly. I definitely felt good about my decision and gave myself a much deserved pat on the back.

March Madness - 2.0

This is the boys year to be introduced to Bracketology. I gave them Bracketology 101. We all did one sheet together. Everyone had one vote per game. I tried to stay out of it as much as possible to see how their picks would do. The boys were very fired up about the process. They asked great questions about the seedings, how some lower seeds had better records that teams that were seeded higher, and about who had historically done well in the tourney. We had to cram this all in before bedtime but somehow we managed. I think the Final Four looks good, Louisville, UConn, NC, and Memphis. NC to win it all over UConn in the finals.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Very St. Patty's DYF Meeting

Miserable underbelly of youth sports, part two. I have been dreading this night. The candidate for head coach (HC) of Caz's would be team came before the board to present his side of Super Bowl Gate. I may have been overly polite and leaned towards the PC side, but I did address him. I wanted him to state his thoughts on the season. As he was speaking, all I could think of was the Costanza-ism, "it's not a lie, if you believe it." I actually did agree with him on few things, but overall I have a hard time fathoming how he can see it his way. I know it happens, and everyone has their view. But I honestly don't get it.
What really got me was the dishonest. For a coach that makes his team chant "Honor" at the end of every practice and game, the past two meetings were so dishonest, that I needed a shower to get the dirt off me. You have last year's HC saying that he didn't really run the team and that this year's HC was the guy running the show. So he couldn't have been responsible for the oversight of not playing kids. Plus, substitutions were delegate to an assistant. The assistant who is leaving and was the well like HC the previous season. How convenient. And this year's HC saying that he wasn't HC last year. It would have been different under him. Really? Two grown men hide behind each other like this? And their mouth piece, who joined the Board with me just playing Ed McMahon "yes, you are correct sir."
I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. But I guess the important thing is that I am fighting. I fight my way. I am more calculated. I like to plan out my argument. I do try to take the emotional factor out of it. I think it may be hampering my efforts. But then what happens? He who shouts loudest wins? That is the example we want to set? Wouldn't that make me as bad as them?

Friday, March 13, 2009

Another NH Trek

Since we missed our annual trip to NH (Attitash) this past November, we are really looking forward to this trip. We will be joining the owners of the condo, my college friend, Hillary and her husband, Michael. It will be nice to catch up with those two. Hillary was a good friend at Colby. And I think Michael is a great guy. They don't have kids, so this could get interesting. I hope they no what they are in for.
I think there may be too much snow on the ground up there to go hiking. That will be a bit disappointing. We may try to put the kids on skis or snowboards though. I was never a big skier growing up. Demi is a pretty good skier though. And just because I didn't do something, or find a sport/hobby to my liking, doesn't mean I won't try to expose the kids to it, so that they can make up their own minds. I know it's fun sharing something with your children that you enjoy doing. But I also want the boys to be their own person. As long as the family is together, that is fine by me.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Where Did I Come From?

My little brother is expecting his first child. These are exciting times for our family. It is also a landmark time in this parent/child relationship. The boys are very excited to have a cousin. Especially a cousin that will be younger than them. Demi and I have take this opportunity to address the age old questions "where did I come from?". Or at least we have started to broach the subject to see if they are curious or see what they know. They did exhibit some curiosity but got a bit shy when pressed further. They claimed they knew all about it. The older one was very sure of himself. Then he claimed Demi had two vaginas. Apparently, we have some work to do......

Monday, March 9, 2009

Happy Birthday Little Brother

Happy Birthday Lex. And it is extra special, now that you are a Dad to be. I think that I might be as excited for you, as you are. I hope you find these postings useful. I know you had the same good role model that I did. So you will do just fine.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Reading Challenge

Coco is still doing really well with his reading. He is in the Enrichment program at school, as he has really done well with his overall schoolwork, but especially reading. Demi and I just signed him up for the reading challenge at school. By mid-May he needs to complete 12 books (2 age appropriate poetry, 4 non-fiction, 6 fiction). He can either read them himself, read them out loud to a parent, or have a parent read them to him. I am willing to bet that he wants to read them all himself. I am very excited to share this news with him. However, I am struggling with the poetry. I do not want to have to resort to Dr. Suess. Nothing against the Suess-meister but Coco is above that reading level. I bet that Coco finishes this assignment early. Very early. There is a book that I got him on Dr. Martin Luther King that I have been looking forward to having him read. So I am enjoying the non-fiction aspect of this assignment.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

WBC

Really. How excited are we supposed to get over the World Baseball Classic? It's not exactly the Olympics. Or the World Cup. The boys were actually interested though. We have talked about Youk and Pedrioa teaming up with Jeter. The pranks Pedrioa are playing. Big Papi playing for the Dominican Republic. Jason Bay playing for Canada. Dice-K in Japan. At least the WBC is creating dinner time conversation. That I can appreciate. More male bonding with the boys. Actually Demi chimes in too and plays along. She is a good sport.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

LOST - Season 5 - 1/4 Season Review

It seems like a good time to talk about LOST so far. We are about a quarter of the way into the new season and all I can say is "Wow"! Really a fantastic season so far. The writers are answering a lot of questions but you walk away with exponentially more. I think from a broad fan base perspective, some casual fans will be turned off now that time travel has been confirmed. But that is their loss. The connections, the intrigue, the characters, and the plot lines are just well thought out and well done. Who's really the bad guy? Ben? or Widmore? And Widmore led the Others for 3 decades? Go figure. I love that Rousseau was brought back. Jin is alive. Walt is back. Things are good on and off the island.