Friday, August 10, 2012

HCC

Congratulations to my little brother on being a Dad again.  That means I am an uncle for the second time too.  I am very excited about that.  This time to a little boy.
     There is something to be said for the scheduled C section.  Seems fairly orderly.  Of course, I ain't the one getting my stomach cut open.
     The Hammer is a cutie.  There is a debate about which male Chin he looks like.  My Dad, my brother, and I are all candidates in this debate.  It doesn't really matter.  The Hammer is here, healthy and happy.  You can't ask for more than that.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Patriot Camp

No, not the Patriots.  Just the local high schools that make up the Patriot League.  But the 8th grade team was invited too.  Caz was actually fired up to go from Day 1.  I thought for sure he'd be hesitant.  But Demi said he had his equipment ready a half hour early, in plenty of time to catch his ride.  The boys went at it for 3 hours in the humid air.  He still had a positive attitude at the end.  At the end of camp, on the last day, he actually uttered the word "fun" in relation to camp.  That is the equivalent of a full scale celebration with fireworks for the Lizard King.
     That is great news for me.  This being his last year in the program, I want him to go out well.  He talked about playing high school football last year.  I hope that continues through this year.  Camp was sort of voluntarily mandatory for his team.  Usually when he is told to do anything, the Lizard King's first instinct is to rebel.  But I am happy this seemed to be a success.  It turned out to be a great first step towards the season.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The Wake Up Call

Well.  The first sign that summer is over happened today.  Caz got football equipment.  Let the craziness begin.  I tried to get into the spirit though.  I immediately took both the boys to Olympia to get cleats and mouth guards.  You know that I am a football guy.  But man, the season seemed to come early this year.  It's quite possible that it is an after effect from all the youth sports drama starting weeks ago.  Who new that volunteering your time could be such a chore.  Not the actually time coaching but the act of volunteering.  The act of offering your time.  This is what our youth sports has come too.  A collection of egos, all thinking that each one knows the best way to do everything.
     But I digress. The boys are excited to play.  Caz was nervous getting his equipment but was very talkative after.  One of the coaches broke the ice by asking if he was playing O-line this year with his 100 lbs frame.  It probably couldn't have gone any better.

Home Alone

Demi and I are still experimenting with giving the boys some freedom and leaving them on their own for short stints.  Even though we were in the same town and we were heading out early, we didn't want the boys to have to contend with getting dinner for themselves.  We wanted them to eat a balanced healthy meal.  We absolutely did not want them to cook.  Even in the microwave.  So I arranged for the boys to join my folks for dinner.  My parents threw some hot dogs (I know, not healthy, but at least there was some form of protein in there) on the grill.  They were going to grill anyway.  My mother feed them some carrots and cucumbers from her garden.  That offsets the hot dogs right?  Anyway, Coco did a great job and called on his way home, confirming he had closed and locked the door behind him.  He even had to go back out and take care of the neighbors dog.  They were upstairs watching TV in our bedroom when we got home.  They went right to bed upon our return.  I would say this nights trial went in their favor.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Summer Wind

Wow!  August is here.  That happened fast.   Summer is winding down.  Football will start soon.  School starts this month.  Dragon Fly Daycare closes up shop here on the premises (it will live on in a new location under new ownership).  Let the games begin.
     Little Chef (Coco) got the cooking bug again bad this week.  He's always concocting something.  But he sat with Demi this weekend to find recipes for specific meals, so that he could add to her shopping list.  We full encourage that of course.
     For his first meal of the week (last night) was homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  The meatball recipe called for bacon, which was the big draw for Little Chef.  Everything is better with bacon!  The sauce was made from scratch too.  He worked for hours on this dish.  He was so proud of it.  And he had every right to be.  We were so proud of him and happy for him.  It was a great meal.
     Tonight he whipped up a Thai peanut sauce to go with cold chicken and noodles.  This can be added to the success list too.  At this rate, Demi can take the rest of week off.