Brendan played an aggressive game this past weekend. Fouling out never looked so cool.
Kristian and Brendan
Feb 082010
Jan 302010
Brendan (far left)
YoungestSon2Me plays basketball. I thought maybe I’d have a wrestler … or a defensive back maybe … but a basketball player? And, of my three children, YoungestSon2Me is probably the one built the most like his father (translation; he is not 6′ 6″ tall). In spite of being vertically challenged, YoungestSon2Me is an awesome basketball player. He is fast as a rattlesnake and extremely aggressive on the court.
He doesn’t like me to take pictures at his games, but a few weeks ago he reluctantly agreed to allow me to take my camera to an away game in Chattanooga. Just once … and only to an away game.
Although he didn’t like it when I sat on the floor courtside, it allowed me to capture some great shots of him in action. He’s one of those kids who gives his all in everything that he does. I’m always proud of him, particularly when he does things I could never do. Like basketball. And piano. And calculus. And violin. And physics. And guitar. And baseball. Etc…
Jan 022010
(Originally posted April 2009) — Tonight, OldestSon2Me asked me to proof a paper he wrote for his American History class. It was titled, “Ronald Reagan – America’s Greatest Leader.”
After reading it, I turned and told Wife2Me that our son – the high school senior – had written a paper titled, “Ronald Reagan – America’s Greatest Leader.”
Wife2Me casually said, “Yes, I read it. You’ve been preparing him to write that paper since he was two years old.”
I was so stinkin’ proud … I got a little teary-eyed.
Jan 022010
(Originally posted July 2008) – For what seemed like forever, our living room was a dance hall. Special occasions and average days got equal billing. The only requirement was a few pair of little feet and some loud music.
I could come home from work, turn on the stereo and start a party. Wife2Me could buy a new CD, throw it in the CD player and everyone would dance until they were sweaty. On New Year’s Eve, all you had to do was turn up the volume on the television while Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was on and you got an instant celebration. Even a rainy Saturday afternoon could turn into a full-scale blowout if someone simply turned on some music.
There was swing dancing, disco dancing, crazy-nonsense-dancing, punk-rock-jumping-up-and-down dancing, square dancing, break dancing, the Tango, run-around-until-your-lips-turn-blue dancing and ballroom dancing.
Today they’re 18, (almost) 16 and 14 years old. Slow dancing is reserved for girlfriends and boyfriends, disco is for “losers” and no one wants to run around until their lips turn blue. Nowadays, we only move the living room furniture to vacuum or look for lost cell phones.
Would we appreciate things more at the time they were happening if we realized they wouldn’t last forever? I would like to think so. And, on rainy Saturday afternoons, I wish there was still dancing in our living room.
Jan 022010
(Originally posted June 2008) – OldestSon2Me entered adulthood with much fanfare, but he made us wait until after his guests were gone before sacrificing a small farm animal and conducting our traditional Ancient Family Right of Passage Ceremony (which involves wedgies, disco-dancing and spankings).
OldestSon2Me is a smart, funny and sweet guy with a large, eclectic group of friends. We’re proud of him for who he is and can’t wait to see what the next 18 years hold for him. Happy Birthday.
Here are some photos from the party …
Jan 022010
(Originally posted June 2008) – On Monday night at around 7:30 p.m., something special happened for YoungestSon2Me. His baseball team was undefeated, but had tied one other team. On Monday evening, they faced the team they had tied before, and both teams were psyched for a win and the chance to be the sole remaining undefeated team. The coach told YoungestSon2Me (who has long hair) that if they lost, he was making him get a haircut.
In the third inning, the score was still 0 – 0. YoungestSon2Me‘s team had the bases loaded and two outs when YoungestSon2Me came up to bat. The first pitch was fast and outside, but YoungestSon2Me gave it his best swing … and missed. The second pitch was lightening-fast and right in the middle of the strike zone … but YoungestSon2Me missed again.
There is no pressure in baseball like the pressure that accompanies being up to bat with the bases loaded, two outs and two strikes. The last pitch was exactly like the second – fast and right down the middle – but this time, there was a huge CRACK as YoungestSon2Me swung with everything he had in him.
Below you can see the pitch coming in (the ball can be seen on the left side of the photo) …
And then the ball went sailing (see the ball in the upper left-hand corner below) … and it kept sailing all the way into the parking lot. A GRAND SLAM HOME RUN !!!
Below, YoungestSon2Me is rounding second and quickly catching up with the runner in front of him …
The smile on his face (below) didn’t disappear until the next morning, and you gotta love the look on the face of that second baseman. The guy in the yellow jersey on the left-hand side of the photo is still waiting for someone to find the ball in the parking lot …
And all three of his teammates who were batted in when YoungestSon2Me launched one out of the park were at home plate waiting to congratulate him when he came in …
The final score was 4 – 0 and YoungestSon2Me‘s team is now the only undefeated team - and he still has long hair. The game ball now sits on his dresser upstairs, and he will likely never mention to anyone again that he was responsible for every score that evening.
Jan 022010
(Originally posted May 2008) – All of you who know Daughter2Me know that while she looks like a Princess she wants to tackle people and break some heads. This is the little girl who was mad for months when she discovered that little girls aren’t allowed to play on most football teams. Although gymnastics pacified her for a short time, Rugby has enabled her to come out of the crusty alien cacoon she hatched from her shell. She is having fun, learning a new sport, hurting other human beings and staying in shape. This is what happens when you have one daughter who has an older brother and a younger brother. Young parents take note.
Daughter2Me is the one doing the serious tackling (not the one running with the ball). And when I played football, we wore helmets and pads because we didn’t want to get brain-damage. Go figure …
Jan 022010
(Originally posted March 2008) — After traveling by van as long as they can remember, the Dad2Three Clan made a recent 8-hour trip by car. While the car has a full-sized back seat, it does not have the room our children are accustomed to. Somewhere in Kentucky, we heard this:
Oldest Son2Me: Dad, tell her to get her legs over. She’s hogging all the space.
Youngest Son2Me: I don’t have any room … Beccah, you have to scoot over. And get your legs down, you know you can’t put them up like that.
Daughter2Me: I’m just using the space I have creatively.
You have to love those homeschoolers … always thinking outside the box.
Jan 022010
(Originally posted March 2008) – My grandmother, Nan, passed away last weekend. On February 22 we traveled through heavy rain, dense fog, about 250 miles of freezing rain and – finally – snow on the way up to Akron, Ohio.
While funerals are always sad, Nan’s was a special, personal tribute to a wonderful lady. She would have been thrilled to see the hundreds of people who showed up and hear the great things that were said about her by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren during the service.
Here are some photos from our trip (our whole family doesn’t get together that often, so there are always tons of pictures).
Jan 022010
(Originally posted June 2007) — A few weeks ago, I was on the telephone with my mom in Ohio talking about how exhausted I was from work (day job and consulting work), running kids to baseball, soccer, church activities, the mall, movies, etc. and generally in a bad mood. So, later in the day, I got a call from my mom telling me that she and my dad got me an early birthday present (my birthday is June 9) — a week at one of my favorite places in the world, the Outer Banks. She said we would be leaving in ten days …
If you’re not familiar with the Outer Banks, there’s a side of me that is thrilled. One of the best things about the Outer banks is that not many people know about it. Not many people go there, and the ones who do like it that way. When I first went to the Outer Banks during the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade, there was very little there. The Outer Banks is a skinny little chain of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. It connects to the mainland near Hampton, Va. and extends down the entire coast of the state. At some points, it is little more than two-tenths of a mile in width and extends 80 or 90 miles into the Atlantic away from the coast. It is not the place to be during a hurricane (which we did once before they issued a mandatory evacuation). I don’t know how many weeks I’ve spent on the Outer Banks in my life, but I’ve stayed on Ocracoke Island, Hatteras Island, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Salvo and South Nags Head. The past half-dozen times we’ve vacationed there, we’ve stayed at South Nags Head. It has been a favorite vacation spot for my family since the early 1970s — and my kids now enjoy it as much as I do.
The best way to learn about the Outer Banks is to go here: http://www.outerbanks.org/
I’ll spare you all the reading and, instead, will simply post a bunch of photos.
This is the house we stayed in, as we have a few times before. It has five bedrooms and sleeps about 13 or 14 people. All of the houses on the Outer Banks are on stilts because of flooding after hurricanes.
My world-class photographer Bren, who got up early with his Nog (grandma) many mornings to photograph the sunrise, took this one morning at the entrance to the beach about 25 yards from our house.
I took a photo of the house next door to ours just as a seagull flew past and cast a great shadow near the window. I’d like to think it represents talent more than luck, but …
We started each morning with coffee, breakfast, reading and conversation on the deck of our house.
And some mornings the dolphins would be out playing. I don’t know if this is one of my shots or one of Bren’s.
By 9:30 a.m., we were usually bustin’ waves and playing on the beach.
My brother Ryan came down from Ohio for the first part of the week …
The beaches, lighthouses, birds and even the unique architecture of the Outer Banks are a photographer’s dream. My mom and my youngest son are fantastic photographers. Some of these shots are mine, but many are Bren’s and Nog’s.
Thanks mom and dad – we all appreciated everything and had a blast.
