Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Reading Into Things

The boy are on another reading tear. They always read but they have spurts where that is all they will do. Over the weekend they brought books to Thanksgiving dinner and a night out at a friends house. They both were tired on Sunday and spent much of the morning on the couch, curled up under blankets and reading. Caz has blown through his whole series of Percy Jackson books. Caz is reading the Landover series. Plus they are reading a bunch of choose your own adventures books as well. It's really something. Now Caz wants a Kindle for Christmas. While it's great he wants to read, the traditionalist in me cringes. I like the feel of books and newspapers. It just seems more natural. Talk about your generation gaps.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Pitching In

The boys were really good this weekend. On Friday, they waited on me to come home, so that I wouldn't miss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Demi said they had a great day. So we got them KFC on the way home. It doesn't always take much to show them appreciation.
On Saturday they braved the cold to move and stack firewood. They raked leaves and dumped them. They did the whole back yard. While not all that big, the gesture was appreciated. They earned some TV/Video game time.
Today, Coco cooked with me. We made Slow Cooker Sunday Sauce with Spaghetti. He did a great job peeling garlic and onions. The he diced the onions, garlic and carrots. He cooked the bacon, put the veggies in the pool to render them, added and reduced the wine, and added the seasonings, tomatoes, and tomato puree. It went into the slow cooker all day. We had a nice family dinner tonight. Salad, bread, and Sunday Sauce. Andre Bocelli was playing in the background. Quite a Rockwell moment.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Turkey Day 2010

I am a traditionalist. So of course the DHS game at 10 AM is a part of the plan. The bonus is the Patriots game at 12:30 against Detriot. That is a lot of football. The DHS game was cold. Caz only lasted until halftime. And he was better off than his buddies. All of them (8 or 9 total) were in there Duxbury Pop Warner sweatshirts and windpants, lined up against the fence along the end zone. At least I knew Caz had a long sleeve shirt, another sweatshirt and fleece pants under all his gear. I was pretty layered up but my toes were still cold. My son went the concession stand ordered his own food, paid for it with his own money, and brought back his old man a coffee. In my mind, it was the best cup of joe I have ever had. In reality, it was sh*t in a cup. I told Caz how much I appreciated it but we should probably avoid concession stand coffee in the future.
We had a bunch of family time too. We played Scattegories during the first half of the Pats game. The game was on without sound, of course. It was really funny. The answers that the boys came up with were great. They are old enough now that they can really play.
Dinner was at my brother's new house. The boys were so well behaved. They didn't complain about getting dressed up. Quite opposite actually. They raced to go put on their new clothes. The brought cards and a few books. They were self contained and self sufficient. Demi and I could not ask for more.
It was really a great day. No indigestion. No bloating. Just a relaxed and calm day. Many more to come...

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Sleep Away Camp

Today is Yaya's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

Caz is going on a 2 night sleep over camp this weekend with Scouts. Demi and I scrambling (Demi mostly) since we have no information on it. We thought we were in good shape with a backpack, compass, first aid kit, knife, and sleeping bag. We know it's going to be cold, around 24 degrees at night, and the boys have choice of tents or cabins. But other than that, we have no information. After tonight's meeting, Caz's second, Caz started talking about money and mess kits. This was all news to us.
This will be Caz's first time out on his own. We are understandable a bit nervous. We don't know the scout leaders well. It's a lot of trust to ask. But Caz is so fired up for it that we need to move to get this going.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Scouting Out A New Activity

The boys have decided to have a go at scouting this year. Demi has been doing a ton of research about it. A lot has changed since I went through Cub Scouts as a kid. And Caz was old enough that he would have to start in Boy Scouts, rather than Cub Scouts. That is completely new territory. I know she's had to make a ton of phone calls. Today was Coco's second meeting and it's a 2 hour Father/Son event. I had no prep going in. It turns out that today's event was first run through for an all day competitions, the Klondike Derby, where the boys will compete as a troop. Today was a course in knot tying, knife safety and fire building/saftey. Fire safety would have come in handy earlier, when I turned my back on the chimenea for a moment. The fire spilled out, sparked the leaves on the ground and sent up my grandparents old porch swing. Oh the irony. At least, Coco and I had fun later tying knots the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

11/11

So what do I do with all this free time that I have now that football is over? I take a day off. The boys were off from school. Demi had the daycare open. Seemed like a good idea to take off and spend a day goofing around with the boys. It ended up that Caz had a sleepover, so he's not around. Coco and I ended up going to a football game. A freshmen high school game. Why? Well,:
A) It's football
B) It's a rivalry - Hingham vs. Duxbury
C) Rooting interests on both sides - one of my old high school coaches on one side and one of my Mites assistants on the other
I picked up Caz and his buddy, then the 4 of us went to the movies. This was the first time that going to an animated flick didn't seem like a great idea. I think Caz had a moment of indecision and embarrassment that Dad was bringing him and his junior high buddy to a children's movie. They both briefly looked up at the board and muttered something about Saw 3D. They would have run out of that theatre screaming, the big fakers. In the end, I think they liked the movie - Megamind.
It was a good boys day off.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

One and Done

Well, it was a good ride. Who would have thought that we would have made the playoffs at this time last year? Again, wins are the primary measure of success for kids this age. The fact is they improved from last year. They improved as individual and as a team from the start of the season to the finish. So I am not disappointed, here at the end. I do wish we could have gone out on a better note. Not a win, but just a better team effort. We just didn't' show up. But this playoff loss is just one factor in the whole equation. And the sum of all the parts equals a successful season. The kids and the coaches feel good at the end of the day.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Harbinger

Coach is worried. This was not a great week of practice. The kids were distracted. Great kids but come on! It's a playoff game. Duxbury just happens to be hosting the D2 playoffs, so even though we are considered the away team by virtue of our seeding, we get to play in our house. I know we have an uphill battle. I just want the kids to play as well as they possibly can. Not for me. Not for the other coaches. Not for the program. But for them. They have worked hard to get where they are. The last few games have not been our best. I want them to play their best. If that happens, no matter what the outcome is, things will be OK.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Hangover

The day after Halloween is the deadliest day of the year actually. At no other time of the year, will you see as much candy in the office as you will this day. Everyone brings their leftovers to work in order to pawn them off on their co-workers. The sabotage is actually pretty funny. We have one co-worker that keeps a candy jar at her desk. Folks occassionally leave money to fund candy runs. But today was like a post-BJ's shopping trip. Bags of candy, candy bars, pretzels, lollipops, etc just kept showing up at this desk. The group may not run out of candy until next year.
We talked to the boys about parting with some of their booty. They offered up a 1/3 to 1/2 to send overseas to the troops. I thought that was a good bargain. Get rid of a lot of the extra sugar for a good cause. It's a good lesson in sacrifice and selflessness. A very small lesson. But it is the baby steps like this that form the foundation of their character.